Nature's Secret Service

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 sp...

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.

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 we...

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...

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-last...

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 sighti...

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!

On January 21, 2026, Ed the Fed was invited to testify before Congress at a hearing of the House Natural Resources Committee. This is the official recording of that hearing in its entirety.

What happens when you have a job to do but you're told you can't do the job because a rule or policy is being strictly interpreted without considering the purpose of the rule? Well, tune in for a fun conversation between Ed the Fed and former special agent Corky Roberts, who worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service as an agent/pilot and who was intimately familiar with the rules of the Departme...

The number and quality of investigations, arrests, and cases mean nothing without good prosecutors willing to file charges and move forward with trials when necessary. For more than 20 years, the United States Attorney for the Central District of California (Los Angeles) has maintained a unit of prosecutors who are dedicated to handling cases involving environmental crime. Sit down with Ed for his...

Get ready to go on patrol in Los Angeles with Ed the Fed and Captain Michele Budish of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). Get a feel for what it's like to work the front line with a hard charging game warden. Will it be a night of non-stop action and excitement or routine patrol work? You'll find out as you join us for ... A Night on Patrol. CORRECTION: At 14:04 and 15:28 minut...

In 1962, USFWS Agent Vic Blasevic was ambushed by poachers and shot twice at close range. Join Ed and retired Special Agent Jerry Smith as they talk about who Vic was, what he was like, and how he survived those harrowing events on a dark and cold Illinois cornfield. CORRECTION - This episode references the Central Flyway but should have referenced the Mississippi Flyway.

Did you know that the very first federal law enforcement officer to ever conduct undercover work was a US Fish and Wildlife Service officer? It makes sense because the US Fish and Wildlife Service is among the oldest federal law enforcement agencies in the United States. Join Ed and his guest Mark Madison, historian for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, to hear about the earliest Fish and Wildlife...

Forty years after US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Marie Palladini took on alligator skin traffickers, Wildlife Officer Jeff Babauta of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was back at it trying to tackle illegal shenanigans associated with the American alligator. In his case, though, Jeff is onto widespread laundering of wild caught alligator eggs and hatchlings, an ill...

Lt. George Wilson spent 36 years working as a law enforcement officer for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and recently retired as the lieutenant overseeing the FWC's statewide investigations unit. Since his retirement, George has been consulting with a private organization known as Exulans ( www.exulans.net ) that provides training and investigative support to emerging...

Meet Captain Dan Brinson, previously with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police. Dan was an important influence on Ed, as well as a role model and mentor. Sit in on Ed's wide-ranging conversation with Dan about everything from officer discretion to the role wildlife officers can sometimes play in protecting the public from unseen safety threats. In Ed's opinion, Dan is one of the m...

Join Ed for his conversation with Bryan Christy as they talk about the world of the reptile trade and reptile trafficking. Christy is the author of The Lizard King , a book that chronicles the origins and history of a reptile supply company known as Strictly Reptiles and its controversial owners Ray and Mike Van Nostrand. Bryan and Ed will talk about the late Charles "Chip" Bepler, a US Fish and W...

Birds get tangled up in the world of wildlife crime and wildlife trafficking all the time. Eagles and hawks are killed and persecuted for their parts and because they are predators. Parrots are smuggled north from Latin America. Songbirds are smuggled around the world from Southeast Asia, risking us all to exposure of deadly strains of bird flu. Even migratory birds native to the US fall victim to...

Lieutenant Kathy Ponting is a legend among game wardens of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly the California Department of Fish and Game). A second-generation warden, Kathy rose to the rank of lieutenant and oversaw the elite Special Operations Unit. Unlike uniformed wardens assigned to patrol work, the wardens in SOU were plain clothes investigators and worked as a cohesive...

Plant crimes resurface this week but, this time, in the form of American ginseng! A native plant found throughout the Appalachian Mountains, including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and under heavy pressure from unscrupulous commercial collectors. Join Ed and former special agent Tom Chisdock as they discuss the threats to the species, the illegal trade, and Tom's great work exposing a g...

This is your rare opportunity to hear from a real life confidential informant who worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. It's exceedingly rare to get an inside seat to the world of "CI's" but confidential informant "Pete Paxton" breaks the silence to give you a brief look behind the curtain. Recruited as an informant by Special Agent Newcomer, Paxton worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Servi...

Join Ed in a conversation with Nkateko Mzimba and Collet Ngobeni, two rangers from the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit based at the Olifants West Nature Reserve in South Africa. The Black Mambas patrol a 25,000 acre reserve inside the greater Kruger ecosystem that is home to elephants, rhinos, lions, buffalo, and all of the species native to the Southern African bush. Listen as the rangers describ...

Join Ed for a wide-ranging conversation with Craig Spencer, founder of Trans-Frontier Africa and the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit in South Africa. This week, we talk about rhino poaching, the rhino horn trade, elephant poaching, the all female anti-poaching unit known as the Black Mambas, and the challenges that go with securing a large, open nature reserve that adjoins Kruger National Park on...

Join Ed and former Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Police Officer Todd Vandivert for the premiere episode of Season 2. Todd will tell us about his long-term undercover operation known as Operation Cody, which exposed widespread trafficking in wildlife species native to the state of Washington.

In the third of three bonus episodes following Season 1, join us to hear how Marie Palladini faced down a huge and hostile subject.