Nature's Secret Service

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Tune in to hear Ed the Fed's appearance on the Freeland Foundation's Earth Team Spotlight Series. Ed talks about why he started the Nature's Secret Service podcast and tells a new law enforcement story to illustrate why telling the stories of wildlife law enforcement is so important and eye-opening.

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Join Ed for his final thoughts on this season and for a special field trip into the heart of wolf country - Yellowstone National Park, where you'll get to talk to some wolf watchers.

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Andrew Wilson is an attorney in New Orleans who sits on the board of directors for the Orleans Audubon chapter of the Audubon Society. Why should Audubon care about wolves? Well, wolves aren't the only threatened or endangered species we are trying to recover at the moment and many other species are impacted by what's happening with wolves and the politicization of the Endangered Species Act. Tune in for a conversation with Andrew about what's happening in the Southeast because of issues born from the efforts to restore wolves to the United States.

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In 2026, Cody Roberts was convicted of felony animal cruelty in Sublette County, Wyoming after he took an injured wolf into a bar and tormented it. Tune in to this episode to hear directly from Clayton Melinkovich, the prosecutor who brought the case. Learn the true facts, what was happening as they prepared for trial, the circumstances that led to a conviction, and the impacts of the outcome. The truth is not necessarily what was told through social media.

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Cody Roberts, the man who infamously took an injured wolf into a Daniels, Wyoming bar with its mouth duck taped shut then tormented it for hours before shooting it, was charged in Sublette County Court with animal cruelty by elected County Prosecutor Clayton Melinkovich. Join Ed for his conversation with Melinkovich about the true facts behind the case and his decision to file charges. The truth is not necessarily what was told through social media.

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In 2012, Judy Calman joined an elite team of environmental lawyers who decided they'd had enough of the McKittrick Policy. Hear the story of the most successful attempt to date to attack the policy that runs counter to Congressional intent.

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Making cases against people who illegally kill Mexican gray wolves has been notoriously difficult but some agents have the grit and tenacity to make something happen. Join Ed for his discussion with former USFWS Special Agent Doug McKenna to hear how Doug actually sent a Mexican gray wolf poacher to jail!

As Ed likes to say, "If you commit a federal wildlife crime, a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent will pursue you, they will catch you, and they will put you in jail."

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Meet the former coordinator of Mexican wolf recovery in Arizona and New Mexico. What's the number one cause of death among Mexican gray wolves? You guessed it -- poaching. This week, we jump into the world of the Mexican gray wolf. A slightly smaller subspecies of Canis lupus, the Mexican gray wolf once roamed throughout the Southwestern United States, into Mexico, and as far north as Colorado. Completely extirpated from their natural range by the 1940's, a very small population remained in the wild in Mexico. They were captured and brought into a captive breeding program. Beginning in 1998, the first of those captively bred wolves were reintroduced in New Mexico with additional reintroductions occurring in Arizona in subsequent years. This week's guest, Sherry Barrett, talks to Ed about her experience as the Mexican gray wolf reintroduction coordinator.

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Are the gray wolves in the Great Lakes area any less persecuted than the wolves in western states? Nope. Join Ed in a conversation with Special Agent Steve Stoinski and hear about his investigation of a Wisconsin landowner who took it upon himself to rid his area of wild wolves protected by the Endangered Species Act. Steve also gives us some insight into what happened to the very first wolves that naturally migrated into Colorado long before that state's effort to reintroduce them. You won't believe it! Well, you probably will believe it.

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Can you kill a wolf in self-defense? One of the very few exceptions to the prohibition against killing endangered or threatened species is self-defense - if you have to kill the animal to save yourself or others. Although wolves have a ferocious reputation in folklore, there are almost no documented cases of wolves attacking human beings. Even when human biologists raid a wolf den to study pups, the adult wolves will not attack. Sit down for a discussion with Tony Latham, one of the most respected state wildlife officers in the west to talk about Idaho's "Wolf Wars." You'll be fascinated to learn about a 'self-defense' case involving two deer hunters in Idaho who shot a wolf and claimed it was attacking them. Tony was assigned to investigate whether or not that claim was true.

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Where do agents turn when they have a case like last week's poison meatball investigation? Well, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Clark Bavin National Forensic Laboratory in Ashland, Oregon, was the first crime lab established in the United States that was totally dedicated to assisting with wildlife crime investigations. A fully accredited crime lab, the FWS Lab provides assistance to federal and state wildlife investigators as they tackle some of the most complex investigations. This week, join Ed for his discussion with Dr. Ed Espinoza, the former deputy director of the FWS Lab to learn more about what the lab can do and how it helps agents solve cases and bring violators to justice.

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Ed Newcomer tells the incredible story of Special Agent Scott Bragonier's investigation of a expansive crime scene in the wilds of Idaho. What happened at the crime scene? It appears to Agent Bragonier as if someone has tried to poison wild wolves that are protected by the US Endangered Species Act. Join Ed and Sheryl McCollum, the host of the Zone-7 podcast, as they talk about the case and the important role played by forensic evidence and good crime scene processing. This case was the first case where someone was successfully convicted for attempting to take an endangered or threatened species.

Special thanks to Sheryl McCollum and the team at Zone-7 for giving us permission to replay this episode on Season 3 of the Nature's Secret Service podcast.

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If you illegally kill an endangered wolf that naturally migrated into the United States but want to keep the pelt, how do you launder it so it appears to be 'legal?' Tune in to this week's episode with former USFWS special agent Corky Roberts to hear about his investigation of a Washington resident who did just that.

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Join Ed for part two of our conversation with renowned wolf biologist Mike Phillips. In this week's episode, Mike takes us through the history of red wolf reintroduction in the Southeastern US, Mexican gray wolf reintroduction in the Southwest, and the recent efforts to reintroduce wolves to Colorado. Although Mike is an ardent supporter of wolf reintroduction across the US, he is a realist and speaks to us honestly about the reintroduction efforts and the likelihood of success under current circumstances.

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Join the conversation with Mike Phillips, former head of wolf reintroduction in Yellowstone National Park as he talks with us about wolf reintroduction, wolf biology, the way wolves interact with their environment, and how misplaced anti-wolf sentiments are threatening one of the greatest wildlife recovery success stories in US history.

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What happens when you head out to conduct a wolf poaching investigation and the local sheriff threatens to arrest you? Wolf Number 10 in Montana wasn't the only reintroduced wolf killed in 1995. Wolf Number B13 was released in Idaho in early 1995 and by Spring, it was dead. Shot and killed on a private rancher's property in central Idaho. Special Agents Paul Weyland, Steve Magone, and Tom Riley were put on the case but what they encountered at the crime scene would send chills down the spine of any federal law enforcement officer. Join the conversation this week with Ed, Paul Weyland, and Steve Magone and they take you through the story.

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Join Ed for his conversation with former federal prosecutor Elinor Colbourn about the infamous McKittrick Policy and its impact on wolf poaching cases. Elinor was a senior federal prosecutor with the US Department of Justice in the Environment and Natural Resources Division where she prosecuted some of the country's most important criminal cases involving environmental law. She was the prosecutor on the "Friday Night Lights" case discussed with Special Agent Keith Swindle in Season 1, Episodes 4 and 5.

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Wolf Number 10 was the first of the reintroduced wolves in Yellowstone National Park to be illegally shot and killed by a poacher. US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Tim Eicher was the agent assigned to solve the case. Join Ed and Tim for their conversation about that case and learn how Tim identified a suspect and brought him to justice. Hear, too, how the case was the spark for long-lasting policy at the US Department of Justice that has hampered Endangered Species Act criminal cases for the past 30 years.

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In the premiere episode of Season 3, join Ed for his conversation with Rick McIntyre, nicknamed "The Wolf Guru" by the late Jane Goodall. Rick has spent more time observing and documenting wild wolves and their behavior than any other person. He was working as a ranger in Yellowstone National Park when wolves were reintroduced in 1995 and, since then, has recorded more than 100,000 personal sightings of wild wolves inside the park. He is an award winning author of a series of books detailing his observations of Yellowstone's wolves. The best place to start that reading is with his book "The Rise of Wolf 8: Witnessing the Triumph of Yellowstone's Underdog."

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What do you do when you receive a complaint that Michael Jackson's private zoo is neglecting its endangered species? You go to see Michael Jackson, that's what!