Chilean authorities, with the help of the U.S. National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory, are currently developing crime scene investigation techniques and forensic protocols to combat an increase in poaching of the vicuña Vicugna vicugna occurring on the Andean altiplano. The techniques and protocols are being shared with other countries in the vicuña's range (Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Ecuador).
Over 5,000 vicuñas have been killed in recent years for their valuable fur, the black market value of which is USD 100–200 per kg. The corpses of 1,823 skinned vicuñas were found in Peru and 3,289 in Bolivia during 2008–2015, 149 in Argentina during 2012–2013 and 51 in Chile during the first 4 months of 2014. An additional 337 pelts were confiscated from smugglers caught at international borders during 2014–2015. These figures are probably underestimates of losses in a problem that is increasingly difficult to monitor and control. The vicuña was on the verge of extinction in the 1960s and 1970s, mostly as a result of poaching, but recovered as a result of conservation efforts across its range. The current poaching is, however, better organized: hunters use motor vehicles and long-range firearms, and are bold enough to shoot at law enforcement officers.
Coordinated action between regulatory and law enforcement institutions in Chile has resulted in increased patrols in high-risk areas and an apparent decrease in local poaching. In addition, officials working for the National Forest Core, Agriculture and Farming Service, Chilean Police and Chilean Investigative Police, and judges, prosecutors and university professors have been trained in crime scene investigation techniques at the U.S National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory. This has allowed Chilean authorities to conduct crime scene investigations in the field to understand the poachers' mode of operation.
This information is not only relevant to criminal investigations but also to quantification of the impact of poaching on vicuña population dynamics and structure. Crime scene investigation uses techniques from various disciplines, including population ecology, anatomy, criminalistics and population genetics. Genotyping of individual carcasses found at a crime scene facilitates tracking of the origin of pelts seized from the black market. There is still a need, however, to develop standardized protocols for forensic entomology and taphonomy, for determining the cause of and time since death.
The study of vicuña carcasses with crime scene investigation techniques was discussed at the XVIII Reunión Técnica del Convenio de la Vicuña held in Chile on the 22 September 2015, at which international delegates promised full cooperation and support to control poaching. Delegates also pledged to participate in the crime scene investigation workshops that will be led by Chilean officials trained in crime scene investigation techniques. This will be the first time that such strategies, protocols and international cooperation have been implemented in Latin America, where wildlife forensic science is still in its infancy.
