Instead of dusty textbooks or computer screens, these students learn in a setting that looks like something from a crime drama — except the victims are wildlife, and the stakes are real.
Inside a warehouse on a game reserve north of Cape Town, students tiptoe through a simulated poaching scene featuring lifeless animal bodies and telltale clues.
But this isn’t a movie set — it’s part of South Africa’s Wildlife Forensic Academy.
Not Your Average Day in the Field
In the middle of the room lies a rhino, stiff in the sand with its horn violently removed.
Nearby, a dead giraffe and a lion’s twisted form complete the grim picture.
The bodies are taxidermied, but the lesson is real: how to investigate wildlife crime scenes and gather solid evidence.
The trainees, dressed in hazmat suits, are learning how to track footprints, secure a scene, and follow a trail — skills that could make or break a poaching investigation.
A New Front Line in the Fight Against Poaching
“This kind of training is critical,” said Phil Snijman, a former prosecutor who now teaches at the academy.
“The first people at the scene often determine whether the evidence holds up in court or gets lost forever.”
That’s a serious issue in South Africa, where rhino poaching has reached crisis levels.
Over 10,000 rhinos have been killed since 2007, yet in 2023, only 36 convictions were recorded — despite nearly 500 rhinos being killed that same year.
It’s Not Just Rhinos — And That’s the Problem
While rhinos and elephants dominate headlines, many smaller species are being wiped out with little fanfare — or justice.
Conservationist Wendy Willson, who works at Johannesburg’s Wildlife Veterinary Hospital, says many of these crimes never make it to court.
Even when they do, the outcomes are often disappointing.
“Sentences are usually too lenient, and many cases involving reptiles, vultures, and other less ‘popular’ species get ignored entirely,” she explained.
Connecting the Dots for Real-World Justice
For Willson and others, the gap in justice is about more than law enforcement availability.
It’s also about prosecutors understanding the seriousness of wildlife crimes, communities being part of the solution, and rangers having the tools and training to document everything properly.
Training rangers in forensics is a piece of the puzzle, but it won’t fix everything — there’s no silver bullet when it comes to poaching.
From Wild Dogs to Crime Scenes
For Mari-Su de Villiers, who works with endangered African wild dogs, joining the academy was personal.
Her team had once encountered an animal poisoning incident, and with the help of a trained colleague, they realized just how important proper evidence collection is.
Now, wearing gloves and placing yellow markers around Frikkie the poached rhino, she’s honing the skills that could help her bring real-world poachers to justice.
A Growing Global Classroom
Since opening in 2022, the Wildlife Forensic Academy has trained over 500 people.
Surprisingly, most aren’t rangers or conservation officers — many are students from Europe whose tuition helps fund scholarships for locals on the front lines.
Snijman hopes that by improving how evidence is collected and presented, the academy can lead to more convictions — and make poachers think twice before striking again.
A Grim But Necessary Mission
“No one wants to need a place like this,” Snijman admits, staring at the staged crime scene.
“But as long as wildlife crime exists, we’ll be here, doing our part.”
And with every footprint analyzed and every clue collected, these trainees inch closer to justice — not just for the iconic species that make the news, but also for the quiet ones disappearing without a trace.