Wildlife Forensics Lab

Colorful Contraband
The elaborate necklaces, armbands and earrings used by shamans of various Amazon tribes, like this one, belonging to the Bororo tribe, have become a popular kind of primitive art sought by collectors in Europe and the United States. The demand has created a large underground industry in which these animals are killed specifically to supply parts for such "authentic" artifacts, thereby further threatening the populations of the jaguar and toucans whose teeth and feathers, respectively, are used to make the pieces.

• Investigating Animal Crimes
• More about Animal Investigators