Course Catalogue

Pharmacy & Biomolecular Sciences

To provide students with a solid grounding in wildlife forensic science including key UK and international legislation, field collection methods and morphological and DNA based species identification techniques. To support the development of key skills that enable safe working in remote rural areas. To develop a critical awareness of key species' ecology that are protected and the criminal activities involving these species.

Outline Syllabus:1. Key UK and international legislation • Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 • Animal Welfare Act 2006 • COTES Regulations 1997 2. Key species and illegal activities • International trade, i.e. Rhino, Tiger, Elephant • Domestic persecution, i.e. badgers, birds of prey, sheep 3. Wildlife forensic evidence overview • Animal evidence • Human evidence 4. Species identification methods • Morphological based • DNA based 5. Safe working practices in rural locations • Weather • Navigation/Orienteering • Risk Assessment • Hazzard Recognition • Personal Equipment • Emergency Situations • Evidence collection on steep ground 6. Evidence collection in the field • Wet/dry • Packaging • Secure • Labelling • Safe handling of snares • Safe handling of poisons 7. Wildlife Forensic Support Community • Police Wildlife Crime Officers • RSPCA • RSPB • Zoological Groups

Module Overview:
This module will primarily run as two five day field trips and provide students with the opportunity to interact with a range of interested groups. Mock crime scenes and other practical activities will form an important part of the module to provide students with a thorough understanding of the subject, including relevant legislation and the difficulties with investigating such crimes.

Additional Information:While not guaranteed, the following activities provide an idea of what may be included on the course. • Chester Zoo visit. Preventing extinction workshop; identifying key promotors in the Illegal Wildlife Trade; IWT species tracking activity; Rhino, Tiger, Elephant IWT talks; CITES/COTES regulations. • Review of rural crime activity with North Wales Police; field site visit to working farm; evidence assessment; evidence recovery; crime scene management, risk assessment and H&S, evidence handling, evidence packaging. • Two day Outdoor Risk Management Training. Navigation/Orienteering; risk assessment; hazard recognition; personal equipment; emergency situations. • Non-animal evidence in Wildlife Crimes. Guide to snares; guide to commonly used pesticides and poisons; safe collection and handling; human evidence; fingerprint collection; DNA collection. • Evidence recovery from steep ground. Abseiling/ascending; risk assessment, hazard recognition, evidence recovery from steep hills, evidence recovery from mountainsides/cliffs. • Raptor persecution. Bird of prey handling; species identification; species ecology. mock outdoor crime scene activity, crime scene management, risk assessment and H&S, evidence handling, evidence packaging, fingerprinting from eggs, fingerprinting from feathers. • Badger awareness training. Persecution of badgers, training in criminal offences that badgers face in the UK, badger ecology, sett identification, legislation, case law, expert witnesses, crime scenes.