The Necessity of Cooperation in Criminal Wildlife Matters: A Case Study of The Challenges Faced and Cooperative Mechanisms Available to Canadian Wildlife Officials

Abstract This article presents and analyzes the mechanisms for cooperation used by wildlife officials in criminal wildlife matters in Canada, through qualitative in-depth interviews with ten Canadian experts. Canada has been used as a transit country for the illicit wildlife trade (IWT) and there is a domestic, regional, and international market for “product” derived from Canadian species. The majority of larger scale criminal cases have involved interagency or bilateral cooperation between criminal justice officials, particularly with the United States. An analysis of these cooperative efforts has been needed. This article’s findings suggest that: (1) wildlife enforcement in Canada relies on cooperation due to scarce resources and lack of priority given to wildlife crimes; (2) interagency training aids forensic capabilities; (3) more prosecutorial dedication to wildlife crimes in Canada, larger budgets, and supported initiatives for enforcement and forensics may result in the detection and prosecution of more crimes; and (4) cooperation should be actively supported because it appears to be the backbone of criminal wildlife investigations in the country, which have exposed different levels of criminal sophistication and involvement in the IWT. The findings help identify Canadian enforcement obstacles and best practices that highlight the need for increased political will and public support for wildlife enforcement and wildlife forensics in combating and identifying wildlife crime.