Wildlife Biologist Goes Too Far?

An avid conservationist is found guilty of attempting to poison feral cats, which she claims are a threat to wild birds.

| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

FLICKR, RODRIGO BASAURE

A judge in the DC Superior Court has found Nico Dauphiné, a former researcher at the Smithsonian National Zoo's Migratory Bird Center, guilty of attempted animal cruelty—specifically, trying to poison feral cats in Washington, DC, to protect local bird populations, ScienceInsider reported.

Dauphiné was reported to the Washington Humane Society by DC resident Rachel Sterling, who noticed a white powder repeatedly appearing on the food she and her husband left out for the neighborhood cats. Determining the substance to be poison, the Society teamed up with local law enforcement to catch the offender, placing video cameras to record the food bowls overnight. The cameras captured Dauphiné reaching into a small bag and then down to the food. The next morning, the food was covered in ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Keywords

Meet the Author

  • Jef Akst

    Jef Akst was managing editor of The Scientist, where she started as an intern in 2009 after receiving a master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses.
Share
Image of a woman in a microbiology lab whose hair is caught on fire from a Bunsen burner.
April 1, 2025, Issue 1

Bunsen Burners and Bad Hair Days

Lab safety rules dictate that one must tie back long hair. Rosemarie Hansen learned the hard way when an open flame turned her locks into a lesson.

View this Issue
Faster Fluid Measurements for Formulation Development

Meet Honeybun and Breeze Through Viscometry in Formulation Development

Unchained Labs
Conceptual image of biochemical laboratory sample preparation showing glassware and chemical formulas in the foreground and a scientist holding a pipette in the background.

Taking the Guesswork Out of Quality Control Standards

sartorius logo
An illustration of PFAS bubbles in front of a blue sky with clouds.

PFAS: The Forever Chemicals

sartorius logo
Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

Unlocking the Unattainable in Gene Construction

dna-script-primarylogo-digital

Products

Atelerix

Atelerix signs exclusive agreement with MineBio to establish distribution channel for non-cryogenic cell preservation solutions in China

Green Cooling

Thermo Scientific™ Centrifuges with GreenCool Technology

Thermo Fisher Logo
Singleron Avatar

Singleron Biotechnologies and Hamilton Bonaduz AG Announce the Launch of Tensor to Advance Single Cell Sequencing Automation

Zymo Research Logo

Zymo Research Launches Research Grant to Empower Mapping the RNome