Nature's Secret Service

What happens when you head out to conduct a wolf poaching investigation and the local sheriff threatens to arrest you? Wolf Number 10 in Montana wasn't the only reintroduced wolf killed in 1995. Wolf Number B13 was released in Idaho in early 1995 and by Spring, it was dead. Shot and killed on a private rancher's property in central Idaho. Special Agents Paul Weyland, Steve Magone, and Tom Riley were put on the case but what they encountered at the crime scene would send chills down the spine of any federal law enforcement officer. Join the conversation this week with Ed, Paul Weyland, and Steve Magone and they take you through the story.

Lieutenant Kathy Ponting is a legend among game wardens of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly the California Department of Fish and Game). A second-generation warden, Kathy rose to the rank of lieutenant and oversaw the elite Special Operations Unit. Unlike uniformed wardens assigned to patrol work, the wardens in SOU were plain clothes investigators and worked as a cohesive unit on long-term or highly complex investigations usually involving illegal commercialization of wildlife or egregious take of wildlife. Wardens in SOU were known to work insanely long and unpredictable hours and had a reputation for being extremely tenacious and dedicated to the mission. Positions in SOU were not easy to come by and not every warden was a good fit. Join Ed for his conversation with Kathy about her team's effort to save the California abalone population from decimation.

This is your rare opportunity to hear from a real life confidential informant who worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It's exceedingly rare to get an inside seat to the world of "CI's" but confidential informant "Pete Paxton" breaks the silence to give you a brief look behind the curtain. Recruited as an informant by Special Agent Newcomer, Paxton worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for a number of years and went on to provide information on other cases to NOAA National Marine Fisheries Law Enforcement. His work in animal cruelty investigations is legendary and his work on wildlife crimes led to changes in California fishing laws and practices. He is the co-author of the book entitled "Rescue Dogs: Where They Come From, Why They Act the Way They Do, and How to Love Them Well," which is available on Amazon or wherever books are sold. He is also a founder and director of the non-profit organization SEED - Strategies for Ethical and Environmental Development (https://www.ethicalstrategies.org/)

Join Ed for a wide-ranging conversation with Craig Spencer, founder of Trans-Frontier Africa and the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit in South Africa. This week, we talk about rhino poaching, the rhino horn trade, elephant poaching, the all female anti-poaching unit known as the Black Mambas, and the challenges that go with securing a large, open nature reserve that adjoins Kruger National Park on one side and local communities on the other.

Nature's Secret Service host Ed Newcomer appears on the podcast Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum to discuss two cases from his career, including one he's never talked about before in a public forum.

Former special agent Sean Mann joins us to talk about his work investigating an eagle poaching incident in California that led to a subject involved in trafficking eagle parts.