The 2026 Animal ForensiCon in Orlando, Florida

Dr. Adam Stern, Dr. Eileen Roy-Zokan, and Victoria Bradley describe what is Wildlife Forensics and how crime scene investigation techniques, DNA analysis, and animal victim examination can help build these cases for prosecution.

Dr. G:

2

All right, so we just got out of

the wildlife forensics talk, and

3

there were many people involved,

some that have already been on the

4

podcast and somebody that's new.

5

So let's start with the OGs.

6

Dr. Adam Stern:

7

Hey, this is Adam Stern.

8

Just got done with that

wildlife master class.

9

It was fantastic.

10

Dr. Eileen Roy-Zokan:

11

Hi, I'm Eileen Roy-Zokan, and I

cover DNA analysis in wildlife.

12

Victoria Bradley: And I'm the new

one, Victoria Bradley, a crime scene

13

level two with the Winter Park Police

Department, and I was invited by Dr.

14

Stern here to go over vehicle

processing regarding any

15

evidence for animal and/or human.

16

Dr. G:

17

So let's start with a simple

question, that may not be so simple.

18

What's the difference between wildlife

forensics and companion animal forensics?

19

Dr. Adam Stern:

20

So really, in a nutshell, there's no

difference from how you would process a

21

scene, how you would do animal autopsies,

how you would collect evidence from,

22

from anything, the animal, uh, vehicle.

23

It's really just the, the types

of crimes that might be different,

24

where, you know, traditionally we

think when we're dealing with cats

25

and dogs, animal cruelty, neglect.

26

When we're dealing with wildlife, we then

kind of pivot and think about poaching,

27

but then you do have cases where we do

have animal cruelty and, and so there's

28

a lot of overlap with, with all of that.

29

Dr. G:

30

So we're talking about DNA, and so

I'm assuming that DNA is gonna be

31

used somewhat similarly to companion

animals, but then there's gonna

32

be some differences as well, yeah?

33

Dr. Eileen Roy-Zokan:

34

Yeah, there's gonna be some differences.

35

So with the DNA, it's again, you

know, just like with domestic

36

animals, you could have, what is it?

37

If you're trying to look at what

animal's responsible for a spate of

38

neighborhood attacks like, is it the

neighborhood dogs that are doing it?

39

Is it a coyote?

40

Is it a bear?

41

And also who is it?

42

Which neighborhood dog is doing

it, or which bear is doing it?

43

So a lot of the, the questions and

analyses will be the same as long as

44

you have the genetic databases there.

45

There are some other additional

questions that we can answer with

46

wildlife when it comes to more,

like, geographic origin, when it...

47

especially when it comes to

repatriation of animals that are

48

confiscated during trafficking.

49

You know, do we have the genetic data?

50

If we have the genetic data, you

know, if we have some freshwater

51

turtles that have, like, box turtles,

do we know around, you know, what

52

river basins they kind of belong to?

53

And you can put them back into the

population they were taken from.

54

Those are k- some of the kinda

more specialized things that

55

you can do with wildlife DNA.

56

Dr. G:

57

Now, when we're looking at the

crime scene, what are specific

58

things that we're looking when we're

doing wildlife and being outside?

59

Victoria Bradley: So obviously,

when it comes to that, you know,

60

we're here in Florida, one of

the things is Your weather.

61

You gotta be comfortable with maybe being

exposed to rain and stuff while you're

62

still processing the scene, and that

determines, like, how quick you need

63

to maybe collect a certain viable piece

of evidence so it doesn't get damaged.

64

But essentially, when you're processing,

you are doing the same thing as if you

65

were working for a traditional homicide

case or maybe a child neglect case.

66

You're documenting and getting

that evidence so that it can

67

be utilized for court later on.

68

So it really doesn't change if it's

animal or human for the most part.

69

The practice stays the same.

70

Dr. G:

71

During the talk, you were talking about

your experience with, like, testifying

72

in, in wildlife forensics, and you

had some very interesting cases.

73

What...

74

So what are the challenges that

you received as far as, talking

75

about wildlife as opposed to

talking to a, about a dog or a cat?

76

Dr. Adam Stern:

77

I think the, the biggest challenge

is sometimes people are gonna

78

challenge you because you've never

worked on that species before, right?

79

So I don't know.

80

If you have a case of an aardvark,

well, how many aardvarks have

81

you ever looked at, right?

82

Dr. G:

83

Right.

84

Dr. Adam Stern:

85

But you can still, you know, take

the medicine that you practice or

86

the investigation skills you have

for collection off of the animal,

87

and it's all applicable, right?

88

Just the anatomy's a little different.

89

So we might have to actually hit

the textbook and be like, "Well,

90

what, what does the stomach

of an aardvark look like?"

91

'Cause honestly, I don't know, uh, if it's

anything different than some of the other

92

mammals that might be closely related.

93

So I think that's one of the

biggest challenges, and that's

94

something that people might pick on.

95

But, you know, other than that,

if the animal's been shot, for

96

example, being shot is being shot.

97

The, the mechanics, the physics

behind that is exactly the same.

98

The animal is gonna be traumatized

in a very similar manner, right?

99

It might behave differently.

100

Um, if it's a non-fatal injury,

the behavior might be different.

101

So maybe it's got more

feathers, more scales.

102

But at the end of the day, I think

that, that's gonna be the, the

103

biggest thing, is it just might

not be a species we've worked on.

104

When it comes to some of the other work

that, like, Eileen does with DNA, we

105

might have more challenges because of the

lack of databases, uh, for individuality.

106

But if you just wanna say,

"That is, that is X species,"

107

that w- w- we could do that.

108

Um, so it really depends on your

question, um, and then the answers

109

we might be able to give you or not.

110

Dr. G:

111

We talked about collecting entomology

samples and dos and don'ts of

112

collecting entomology sample.

113

What are dos and don'ts of

collecting samples for DNA analysis?

114

Dr. Eileen Roy-Zokan:

115

Oh, that's a great question.

116

It's basically trying to ke- keep

the cross-contamination down is the

117

biggest, one of the biggest things.

118

So if you're collecting tissues You

wanna make sure that the tool that

119

you're using, whether that's a razor

blade or a knife, you wanna make sure

120

that you've cleaned that really well

with some alcohol before you collect it.

121

So the other big tip that I can

give is, or recommendation or advice

122

for collecting DNA samples is in

reference to animal interaction cases.

123

So if you have, like, an animal that's

been attacked by another animal, or if

124

you have a human that's been attacked by

an animal, what you wanna make sure is

125

you don't wanna sample inside the wound.

126

You wanna sample around it.

127

'Cause if you sample inside the wound,

it's gonna get become too saturated with

128

the victim's DNA to where we're not gonna

be able to access the perpetrator's DNA.

129

So what we're looking for is

trying to capture the saliva of

130

the perpetrator, so you wanna get

around the wound and not inside.

131

Dr. G:

132

I think that's really good because

logic would say that you wanna

133

get from the inside because that's

where you know that it happened.

134

Dr. Eileen Roy-Zokan:

135

Exactly.

136

Exactly.

137

That's what we commonly see, but

yeah, it's around, not inside.

138

Dr. G:

139

As you're collecting everything and you

wanna bring it to a prosecutor so there

140

can be charges, what are do's and don'ts

of getting all your information together?

141

Victoria Bradley: Honestly, um, you know,

try not to get, like, a tunnel vision.

142

Sometimes these cases can, like,

bleed into, "Oh my gosh, that dog

143

just looks like my, my, my fur baby

back home," or, um, you have a special

144

love for, for that type of animal.

145

Uh, so making sure that you're not

tunneling and being biased when

146

you're collecting that evidence.

147

So you're gonna collect everything

that's possibly there, and

148

then reach out to your experts.

149

Don't, don't think you're above

the knowledge of what's there.

150

If I'm not familiar with, an

alligator or something, "Hey,

151

what should I be looking for?"

152

And reach out to those people, so that

you can work in hand-in-hand with the

153

state attorney and bring, you know, the

case to full circle and, and be able to

154

prosecute that as the best as you can.

155

So just not letting your ego or

your tunnel vision get in the way.

156

Dr. G:

157

That is sound advice because I have

seen that so many times, right?

158

Like, animal cruelty cases are

such an, an emotional case.

159

Victoria Bradley: Yes.

160

Dr. G:

161

And people just do not become

objective And then in the end,

162

you can appear biased, which then,

you know, throws everything out.

163

Victoria Bradley: Absolutely.

164

So it's definitely something to keep

in, in mind and then try to control

165

as much as we know it, it does affect

your, your mental state for to a

166

degree, is making sure that you have

that, that moment to decompress and

167

just process it like any other case.

168

Dr. Adam Stern:

169

I think the, the other thing that

I think we've all mentioned in some

170

fashion is document, document, document.

171

Document.

172

Right?

173

Write it down.

174

Photograph it.

175

If you think you got enough

photos, take a few more.

176

Take more.

177

Uh, because you probably need it, right?

178

So really the, the big thing is

wildlife crimes, the, the crimes might

179

be different, but the documentation is

exactly the same whether you are, um,

180

right outside here in this little forest

in Orlando or you are in the middle of

181

a major national forest, um, out west.

182

It really doesn't matter.

183

You just have to document

it as best you can.

184

Um, and then knowing some

of your limitations, right?

185

If you are, you know, hundreds of miles

from the nearest area of civilization,

186

you gotta bring everything with you.

187

Phone a friend or another expert where

you're like, "I have questions on,

188

you know, toxicology," or, "Hey, I

think there might be some interesting,

189

you know, trace evidence here, but

I don't know how to approach this."

190

Ask for help.

191

There's a lot of people out there who are

willing to help you and, you know, know

192

your limitations like how we just said.

193

Dr. G:

194

So anybody that is interested

in pursuing wildlife cases,

195

where can they get information?

196

I mean, obviously here at the ForensicCon,

but what, what are good places for people

197

to get more information about this?

198

Dr. Adam Stern:

199

So I think there's, there's

a, a number of places.

200

If you're looking at some of the

federal cases, so the use of-- US

201

Fish and Wildlife has a forensic

lab in, in Ashland, Oregon.

202

Uh, so that's one place.

203

It's a resource that's available.

204

There are some really good textbooks

out there if you just wanna have a nice

205

read, um, on some on DNA, some on, on

just kind of overall wildlife crime.

206

So there's some really

good things out there.

207

And then, you know, every once in a

while there's, there's a webinar that

208

comes up, like things that are, are low

cost that you can start to dabble in and

209

start to learn more, and then you can

start to contact people and say, "Hey,

210

I wanna actually want to physically

learn more" and, and reach out to some

211

of the, the, the people who are in the

field, and they might be able to help

212

you learn more, break into the field

or anything else that you might need.

213

Victoria Bradley: I would say from a crime

scene standpoint, 'cause, you know, you're

214

gonna have, um, animal control potentially

come out for those scenes, get in contact

215

with your local agency that service you.

216

And, um, I made this contact just

recently and was able to discuss,

217

like, certain things, and one of

the, the topics was bestiality.

218

I didn't think of that at all.

219

Um, and they were saying, "We would like

the crime scene person to be present

220

during that time of collection so that

they are not in the chain of custody

221

essentially, and it makes it just a

streamlined process so that we can

222

turn it over later on for analysis."

223

I would have never thought of that

if I didn't reach out firsthand.

224

So I think that's the best thing to

do if you're a crime scene person

225

is to reach out and see what that

procedure looks like and be a

226

little bit, proactive than reactive.

227

Dr. G:

228

Well, thank you so much for speaking

with me, and thank you for this talk

229

because it was very, very enlightening.

230

Victoria Bradley: Awesome.

231

Thank you.

232

Thank you so much.

233

Dr. Adam Stern:

234

Thanks for having us on your show.

235

Victoria Bradley: Yeah