Wildlife Alliance

For Immediate Release

Crime Scene Wild - Exposing the Illegal Wildlife Trade

November 21, 2007 

Wildlife Alliance's Thailand Country Director, Steve Galster, hosts this 6-part series, drawing on years of anti-poaching, anti-trafficking experience in North and South America, Africa, Asia and Russia. Through undercover sting operations and the use of new forensics technology and hidden cameras, Galster exposes the middlemen and masterminds of this ugly business. From high on the Tibetan Plateau to the underworld of East London, watch Crime Scene Wild and join Steve Galster as he travels to the frontlines of wildlife crime!

Read a brief description below about the different episodes, or go to Wildlife Alliance's homepage and click on Crime Scene Wild Series.

Elephants

Galster is in London when he's tipped-off about some suspicious ivory and goes undercover to discover the source of the illegal ivory.

Big Cats

After a large shipment of big cat "parts" is seized in Denver, Colorado, Galster investigates the supply and demand of cat bones, claws and skins. He quickly realizes this illegal trade in big cats has a very wide reach.

Shahtoosh

Galster explores the allure of shahtoosh, a finely woven shawl made from the hide of Chiru, an endangered Tibetan antelope. As Galster reveals, demand in the West for items like the precious shahtoosh is decimating the supply of Chiru in the wild.

Galster goes deep and resurfaces in several countries to investigate the multi-billion dollar industry in shark fins. From El Salvador to Taiwan, Galster travels around the world to expose the business that is driving sharks to the brink of extinction.

Bushmeat

Recipe for disaster? Primates are still on the menu in many parts of the world, despite their endangered status. While investigating the bushmeat trade in London, Galster discovers an entie underworld of gangs, drugs and other illegal goods.

The hunter becomes the hunted. Galster joins anti-poaching patrols as they pursue illegal bear hunters. As the demand for bear bile and bear parts soars, even protected bears are vulnerable.

Wildlife Alliance congratulates the Crime Scene Wild series for its documentary on sharks and the shark fin industry, which won the 2007 Environmental Award at the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival. Although the Sharks episode was one of Steve Galster’s more dangerous assignments, the on-air investigation helped expose and draw attention to the relentless exploitation of shark populations around the world.

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Wildlife Alliance is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect and preserve wildlife, forests and oceans for future generations. Our field operations, formerly carried out under the name WildAid, train and equip park rangers to fight crimes against nature, and prevent poaching and illegal habitat destruction in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Russia and the Western Pacific through collaboration with governments and communities. We improve the management of protected areas, support sustainable development initiatives, and empower countries to enforce transboundary wildlife regulations. For more information, please visit wildlifealliance.org.