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PODCAST

Nature"s Secret Service

A weekly true crime podcast that puts you in the room with the men and women of wildlife law enforcement who protect our planet"s wild animals and plants from the greedy hands of poachers and wildlife traffickers. Visit www.naturessecretservice.com for more information.

true crime

All Episodes

50:27

A Night on Patrol

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/12/30

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.

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37:26

AMBUSH!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/12/23

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.

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57:41

The Untouchables

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/12/16

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 Service law enforcement pioneers.

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71:13

Wildlife Officer Jeff Babauta - Gator Country!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/12/09

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 illegal business that can rack up hundreds of thousands, and sometimes millions of dollars in profits for

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55:12

Lt. George Wilson - Operation Red Dawn

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/12/02

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 countries through a contract with WildAid. George and the Exulans team recently worked to help the nation

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66:18

Captain Dan Brinson - Don't be Shellfish, Ed!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/11/25

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 most intelligent and most ethical wildlife law enforcements ever to wear a badge and carry a gun. Tune in

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69:17

Bryan Christy - The Lizard King

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/11/18

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 Wildlife Service special agent who spent years pursuing and making a case against Strictly and Mike Van

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59:25

Special Agent Walter Duran - Operation Ornery Birds

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/11/11

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 the illegal exotic pet trade. Join Ed as he talks to former US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent

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65:14

Lt. Kathy Ponting - That's a Bunch of Abalone!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/11/04

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 unit on long-term or highly complex investigations usually involving illegal commercialization of

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59:13

Special Agent Tom Chisdock - I'll have the Ginseng...

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/10/28

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 ginseng trafficker who also sold opioids straight from the same store that served tourists coming and

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59:25

Confidential Informant!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/10/21

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 Service for a number of years and went on to provide information on other cases to NOAA National Marine

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51:42

The Black Mambas!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/10/14

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 describe their duties and some of their adventures and close calls protecting the important wildlife that is

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81:53

Craig Spencer - Rhinos, Elephants, and Black Mambas

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/10/07

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 one side and local communities on the other.

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61:55

Wildlife Officer Todd Vandivert - Operation Cody

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/09/30

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.

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10:12

Bonus Episode - Size Doesn't Matter!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/08/12

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

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31:27

Bonus Episode - The Almost Shootout Over a Misdemeanor

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/07/22

In our second bonus episode following Season 1, tune in to hear how even a routine investigation of a misdemeanor crime can turn deadly in seconds.

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6:28

Bonus Episode - The Pregnant Lady and the Car Chase!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/07/01

The first of our bonus episodes following Season 1. Tune in to hear one of the many great side stories that unfold during a typical investigation.

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68:33

Season Finale - Two Stories

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/05/27

Nature's Secret Service host Ed Newcomer appears on the podcast Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum to discuss two cases from his career, including one he's never talked about before in a public forum.

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94:34

Wildlife Officer Savannah Morgan - Plant Ops!

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/05/20

Former wildlife officer / game warden with the State of California, Savannah Morgan joins Ed to discuss her team's investigation of a South Korean national who masterminded a plant poaching and trafficking operation in Southern California. Ed adds his perspective as a US Fish and Wildlife Service special agent serving overseas at the right time and place to help capture and extradite the notorious trafficker.

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64:45

Special Agent Sean Mann - Eagle Poaching Fugitive

Nature"s Secret Service ·

2025/05/13

Former special agent Sean Mann joins us to talk about his work investigating an eagle poaching incident in California that led to a subject involved in trafficking eagle parts.

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32 results

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