Wildlife Inspector: This Is My Job

Wildlife Inspector: This Is My Job

Alberto González Location: Miami Age: 33 Years on Job: 6

Alberto González has a checklist 100 lines long of all the animals he'd like to see. As a wildlife inspector at the Port of Miami, he's already more than halfway through it: He has set eyes on everything from the world's most toxic snake, the taipan, to its biggest shark, the whale shark. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hires inspectors to stop the illegal wildlife tradeâ€"at $ 10 billion to $ 20 billion per year, it's second only to arms and drug smuggling in the black market. "We have to understand and enforce a range of U.S. and international laws, regulations, and treaties that limit the commercial traffic of endangered wildlife. We must be able to identify thousands of different species. And we verify that live animals are transported humanely," González says. "Every day is a new challenge."

1. LIVE ANIMALS

During PM's visit, González inspected shipments of green anacondas, Goliath bird-eater tarantulas, smooth-fronted caimans, and yellow-footed tortoises. "With the exception of the tarantula, all the animals are protected by CITESâ€"the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species," he says. "Not all the animals are endangered, but CITES regulates their trade to prevent them from going extinct." The biggest challenge is identification: "Species from the same genus can look alike except for one detail. One is protected, the other is not."

2. FLASHLIGHT

Wildlife is shipped in bags or containers placed in crates. González dons a pair of Kevlar-lined gloves, then shines a flashlight inside the box to check for loose animalsâ€"like the monitor lizards he recently found at large. "If we can handle the animal, then we'll try to catch it," he says. "If not, we close the box, contact the importer, and let them do it."

3. SNAKE HOOK

In 2011 more than 36.8 million animals were imported and exported through Miami, which receives more venomous animals than any other port in the U.S.â€"at least 16,000 last yearâ€"so snake hooks are essential. The inspectors relocate such shipments to a large room. "We don't want to be in a confined space in case the animals get loose," González says. "We want to have an open area where we can handle them with the hooks if necessary."

4. VIEWING TUBE

After a bag has been placed on the floor, inspectors insert a plexiglass viewing tube to see what's inside. Sometimes bags are mislabeled (by accident or on purpose), such as the one González peeked into that should have held frogs. The viewing tube showed its actual contentsâ€"scorpionsâ€"from a safe distance. PopularMechanics.com RSS