Wildlife Detectives

The phrase “wildlife trafficking” usually evokes visions of elephant tusks, tiger pelts and mounted trophy heads of animals killed in faraway places, then smuggled into the United States, Asia or Europe.

But traffickers and poachers are also robbing the United States of its own native fauna. Our investigation found that’s especially true in the wildlife-abundant region of the Pacific Northwest.

A team of reporters from EarthFix public media partnership conducted hundreds of interviews, spent hours reviewing documents, and followed law enforcement as they worked their cases, trying to stop criminals from making a killing.