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Brazen Fossil Hunters Are Cleaning Out U.S. Dinosaur Heritage |
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Mike Toner The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| August 24, 2001 |
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The dinosaurs are disappearing. Again. On public lands across the West, from the open range to the national parks, fossil hunters are poaching priceless, and sometimes pricey, fragments of the Americas' prehistoric heritage. Where cattle rustling was once the crime du jour, fossil hunters with off-road vehicles and satellite navigation aids now filch the fossilized remains of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life. Some of the skulls and bones disappear into private collections. Some are sold over the Internet or at upscale auction houses. Some eventually make it to museums. And some are never seen again. "Fossil hunters are picking our federal lands clean," says Vincent Santucci, a ranger at Wyoming's Fossil Butte National Monument, the National Park Service's top cop in matters of fossil theft. "The problem is rampant. And unlike forests and grizzly bears, fossils are not a renewable resource. They're not making T. rexes anymore." Fossil collecting on private land, with the permission of the landowner, is legal. Scrupulous fossil collectors are careful always to get permission. But the widespread evidence of fossil theft from federal lands, where most collecting is illegal, makes it clear such scruples are not universal. In Rapid City, South Dakota, this month, federal prosecutors are preparing to try four University of Wisconsin students charged with stealing 1,700 fossils from Badlands National Park. The case is unusual only because the students got caught. Park rangers have yet to find the thieves who last year dug up a 30-million-year-old graveyard of rhinoceros-like mammals called titanotheres and made off with 18 skulls worth U.S. $5,000 apiece. Problem Not Confined to America The theft of valuable fossils is not limited to the open range, and international smuggling rings make sure the problem is not confined to America. A few years ago, two 25 million-year-old rhinoceros fossils were stolen from a University of Michigan museum. The thieves dismantled the exhibit, took a skull and a leg bone and then reassembled the case. The fossils were never recovered. Authorities did recover a portion of a Tyrannosaurus jaw stolen from a University of California, Berkeley, museum a few years ago, but only after it had been tracked through an underground fossil market that stretched to Belgium and Germany. Major fossil thefts—including those of rare, scientifically important specimens—have occurred in Russia and Argentina. "Paleontology has caught up with archaeology and art as a commercial enterprise," says Dan Chure, a paleontologist at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah. "Like art and archaeology, some specimens are selling for seven figures. And just like art and archaeology, we're seeing a booming underground market for stolen specimens. Every time they release a sequel to Jurassic Park, the market takes off again." Western ranchers who own fossil-rich geologic formations have been quick to cash in on the fossil gold rush, charging fossil hunters thousands of dollars for the right to prospect on their land and a percentage of the take if they find anything of value. With an owner's permission, it is legal to collect anything on private land and sell it. Once a fossil has been removed, however, it is all but impossible to tell where it came from. Fossil dealers often don't know—and don't want to. The federal prosecution of the Black Hills Institute was successful, in part, because the Larsons kept meticulous records. Statistically, the odds are high many of the fossils being sold today came from public land. The federal government is the largest landowner in most Western states. Federal lands make up 48 percent of Wyoming and 59 percent of Utah. And in most areas, there are no fences or signs to distinguish public property from private. The American Association of Paleontological Suppliers, which represents many of the country's dealers, urges its members to obtain permission for access to fossil-rich areas and to "strive to stay informed" about regulations. Anti-Poaching Law is Not Complicated The law isn't complicated. Taking vertebrate fossils—dinosaurs, mammals and other creatures with backbones—from most of the 622 million acres (252 million hectares) owned by the federal government, and the removal of any fossils from national parks without a permit, constitute theft of government property. Penalties vary from modest fines to prison time. First, however, the thief has to be caught. Chances of that are remote. The national parks, which have the strictest rules and more rangers, are better protected than the open lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. But even the parks are feeling pressure from fossil hunters. "We've probably prosecuted more cases than any other unit of the park system," says Badlands Superintendent Bill Supernaugh. "We investigated 32 cases last year, but we don't know whether that was 10 percent of what happened or one percent." He's not talking about tourists who casually pocket a fossil fragment or two for a souvenir. "We've had youth groups come in and strip-mine the surface of fossils," he says. "A significant number of the people we apprehend are teachers, graduate students and troop leaders who should know better." Supernaugh says commercial fossil hunters are actively targeting specific areas of the park. Last year, park rangers arrested three men from Illinois, Canada and Europe who used the Internet to map and plan their collecting in an area of the park known for "exceptional" invertebrate fossils. "We know that there is a well-established black market for fossils from the park," he says. "People target these sites and then sell what they collect to intermediate buyers, who in turn sell them to museums or other institutions." Escalating prices aren't limited to rare, museum-quality dinosaurs. Smaller, less expensive fossils are sold at hundreds of rock shops, mineral shows and scores of other fossil outlets—online and off. Butterfields of San Francisco this summer auctioned off "extraordinary dinosauria" and other natural history items—including a nest of three dinosaur eggs (U.S. $2,644), the large vertebrae of a duck-billed dinosaur ($646) and a juvenile mammoth tusk ($4,112). And E-Bay's online auction site recently listed more than 1,500 fossil items for sale, including a 5-pound Chinese dinosaur egg ($300, despite Chinese laws which forbid the export of such specimens); a 3.5-inch raptor tooth ($495); and a 200-million-year-old therapod footprint ($100). The Society for Vertebrate Paleontology has singled out online fossil sales for special criticism because the business is, by nature, secretive. "In science, people who find fossils try to share as much information as possible," says society president Stuckey. "In the fossil business, you're at a disadvantage if you give away information about your source." But fossil dealers say an active market can help bring new fossils to public attention—and encourage more people to get interested in paleontology. Keen interest, however, is not always the companion of good science. After an unusual Chinese bird fossil sold for U.S. $80,000 at an Arizona fossil show a few years ago, it was hailed by National Geographic as one of the "missing links in dinosaur evolution." Although unauthenticated by scientists, the magazine named it archeoraptor lioaningensis after the province in China where it allegedly was found. Because taking fossils from Liaoning is illegal, the Chinese asked for it back. Upon close examination, however, scientists found it was really a composite of at least two creatures, which had been glued together to boost its value on the black market. National Geographic acknowledged the mistake and chafed that the incident had damaged the magazine's credibility. The loss to science is less certain. "China is also the source of some of the best preserved dinosaur nests in the world, but smuggled specimens are flooding the market," says Dinosaur Monument's Chure, who wants to see scientists develop a database of missing fossils. "Well-preserved nests could tell us a lot if we could study them where they're found, but we'll never get that chance because they're being scattered all over the world." Copyright 2001 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Recent National Geographic News Stories On Dinosaurs: Skeleton of New Dinosaur "Titan" Found in Madagascar "Tidal Giant" Roamed Coastal Swamps of Ancient Africa "Feathered" Fossil Bolsters Changing Image of Dinosaurs Oddly Angled Teeth Make Masiakasaurus Stick Out Additional dinosaur resources from National Geographic: Paul Sereno: NG Explorer-in-Residence and Dinosaur Hunter Dinorama Wanted: Albertosaurus Dinosaur Eggs Destinations: Dinosaur National Monument Educational Video: Dinosaurs on Earth: Then and Now Children's Pop-up Book: Dinosaur Babies Related lesson plan Use this National Geographic News article in your classroom with the Xpeditions lesson plan: Physical Characteristics of Places: The Fossil Record |
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