Insect species such as flies and beetles can provide clues to help investigators locate and apprehend poachers.
In 1988, Australian police turned to Ian Dadour, an entomologist, not because he was a suspect, but because they needed his expertise.
The investigators requested Dadour to estimate the age of maggots found on a body, which would help them determine when the victims were killed.
Insects can assist investigators in determining when the animal was killed (Photo: Getty).
Dadour continued to teach this method and other forensic entomology techniques to the South African Police Service.
Today, it has gradually become an effective investigative method, applied not only to catch murderers but also those who poach rare animals.
According to Science, poachers in South Africa kill hundreds of rhinos each year, often for their horns. To combat this criminal group, local police have adopted Ian Dadour’s method, referring to it as forensic entomology.
They collect adults, larvae, and eggs of carrion-eating insect species such as flies and beetles from animal carcasses. This process is not very difficult, as carrion-eating insects usually find and lay eggs on a corpse within less than an hour.
Subsequently, the eggs hatch and develop at a predictable rate. Among the 119 insect species collected from rhinos, blowflies and beetles are the most common and useful.
By analyzing the collected insect samples, forensic entomologists can estimate the time of death of a corpse, known as the minimum postmortem interval.
They then use this data to narrow down and predict the movements of poachers, as well as allocate necessary resources for their apprehension.
Amoret Whitaker, a forensic entomologist at the University of Winchester in England, stated: “It is noteworthy that the methods we use on humans can be applied in the same accurate way to animal cases“.
Currently, similar methods are also being utilized to investigate and monitor endangered marsupial species in Australia. They may even be applied in cases of animal cruelty.
