California DFG Scientist Named Conservation
Officer of the Year
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December 11, 2006
Considered one of the early pioneers in wildlife forensic biology,
Jim Banks is a wildlife detective like few others. As supervisor and
senior scientist of the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG)
Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, Banks has helped solve thousands of
crimes against wildlife. In recognition of his long-time dedication
he has been selected Shikar-Safari Club International Conservation
Officer of the Year, an award bestowed upon only the very best in
wildlife conservation in the nation.
“Jim is not only a recognized national expert in the field of
wildlife forensics, with all the cases he has helped solve, Jim has
made a significant contribution to the conservation of California’s
wildlife species,” said DFG Director Ryan Broddrick. “I can’t think
of anyone more deserving of this prestigious award.”
Director Broddrick will present Banks with the award at a special
ceremony at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 12 at DFG’s Headquarters in
Sacramento. The Shikar-Safari Club International Conservation
Officer Award is in recognition of those who have shown exemplary
performance of their duties in the protection of wildlife,
enforcement of game laws and implementation of conservation
programs.
For more than 35 years Banks has served wildlife, sportsmen,
biologists and fish and game wardens by bringing criminals who
illegally kill and poach wildlife to justice - protecting wildlife
for all Californians.
As a native to California and a dedicated outdoorsman, Banks knew at
an early age that he was destined to a career in wildlife
conservation and enforcement. He began his career in 1969 as a DFG
fisheries biologist and soon after became inspired to learn more
about forensics. Wildlife forensics and the application of the
science designed to support wildlife laws were barely in “embryonic
stages,” he said. After receiving graduate degrees in clinical
medical technology and animal comparative pathology and spending a
few years working in the California Department of Justice crime lab
on human pathology and forensics, Banks knew wildlife forensics was
his destiny. He then transferred back to DFG where he launched a
laboratory dedicated to the wildlife forensics science and serving
as a great compliment to DFG’s wildlife disease lab. This was no
easy task, recalls Banks.
“We were one of the first in the nation to use forensics to solve
crimes against wildlife but we had a difficult start due to a lack
of adequate funding,” he said. Banks didn’t let this deter him,
however, and he and his long-time friend and colleague, the late Ken
Levine, wrote grants and partnered with numerous wildlife groups and
organizations “to get the job done.”
Banks and Levine were not only responsible for building the
laboratory and program, they realized their dream when they saw
wildlife forensics and their profession evolve with the use of DNA.
This technology in the mid-1980s went from solving crimes against
people to also being used for crimes against wildlife. This
evolution required DFG’s collection of hundreds of animal samples
over the years to be used to solve such puzzles.
Led by Banks and Levine, DFG’s Wildlife Forensics Laboratory was one
of the first in the country to have the capabilities of prosecuting
criminals who poached deer. Using the DNA technology, they were able
to identify individual animals from specific herds through their
component parts, such as meat, fur or a few drops of blood.
“Jim does not strap on a gun and a bullet proof vest every day like
the typical game warden, he makes the case in the lab,” said John
Dawson, a warden with DFG’s Redding Office. “I’ve had many suspects
confess to a poaching incident in the field after I tell them that
we have the best forensic scientist in the nation who will be able
to tell me the exact sex and the number of animals represented by a
blood smear or meat sample.”
Wildlife forensics includes a variety of techniques to link an
animal to a suspect and vice versa. The science can also be used for
investigating the rare occurrence of a wildlife attack on a human.
Most days, however, Banks can be found working in the laboratory
peering through the microscope, writing reports, and photographing
animals and animal parts.
“Courts now expect this science in order to make a conviction,” he
said. But the science goes beyond its use of seeking convictions for
illegally killing deer and elk, the wonton waste of wildlife
includes all sorts of animals.
From elk poaching cases to waterfowl and upland game bird cases,
black bear to abalone and sturgeon, crimes against wildlife covers
all species. In California, more than $100 million is generated
annually by commercial poaching, the illegal sale of wildlife parts
and products. An elk head with an impressive set of antlers may be
marketed for $20,000. Bear galls are also highly prized and are
often used as an ingredient in traditional medicines, considered to
cure all types of ailments, from backaches to heart disease.
One case that Banks says he will never forget involved the illegal
killing of 15 Roosevelt elk in northern California. “This was a mass
killing. We conducted DNA analysis on each animal, had more than 20
game wardens involved in the investigation, and ultimately we were
able to place all the suspects back at the scene,” he said.
Banks says his investigative role with crimes against wildlife is to
“prove it beyond a doubt.” Over the course of his career, Banks has
investigated thousands of cases and has testified in court more than
400 times on behalf of wild critters. “By far the majority of cases
that I’ve helped crack have resulted in convictions,” he said. But
these cases go beyond California as Banks and members of his team
have assisted other fish and game agencies in solving wildlife
crimes using DFG’s state-of-the-art technology.
Why should people care if wild animals are taken illegally?
“Poaching these species can have a profound impact on the overall
health of wildlife populations,” Banks said. “We are a society of
laws, not only designed to protect people but to regulate and
protect wildlife. If we don’t respect and uphold these laws, then we
revert back to the days of the Wild West, and that’s when the very
survival of wild species comes into question.”
Fortunately, we’ve come along way with wildlife forensics and a
large portion of crimes against wildlife no longer go unpunished for
a lack of scientific evidence, he said, adding that in the last few
years, after the loss of Levine, the lab has hired two additional
and dedicated forensic scientists, Dr. Jeff Rodzen and Erin Merideth,
both experts in the field of DNA technology. “They will carry on the
roles of our commitment to help conserve California’s wildlife and
to assist our fish and game wardens whenever possible,” Banks said.
And thanks to dedicated wildlife professionals like Jim Banks,
wildlife forensics is a highly-recognized science and justice is now
routinely served to those criminals who illegally kill wildlife, our
natural heritage.
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