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Bryan Huska (left), finishing his formal wildlife officer training, and Patrick Porter at work on a case. Right, the two officers taking notes before executing a search warrant

Bryan Huska (left), finishing his formal wildlife officer training, and Patrick Porter at work on a case. Right, the two officers taking notes before executing a search warrant

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Published 15 December 2016

  English 

Environment Canada’s Pacific Region staff make end-of-year donation in memory of lost colleagues

Vancouver, Canada, 15th December 2016—As the year draws to a close, staff at Environment Canada are making a donation to TRAFFIC in memory of two of their former wildlife officer colleagues, Patrick Porter and Bryan Huska, who passed away earlier this year. 


Both Patrick and Bryan excelled in their contributions towards addressing the world of wildlife trafficking and will be sorely missed by all who knew them, in particular their families and their colleagues at Environment Canada. 

Colleagues recall Patrick’s extraordinary depth of knowledge on wildlife trade issues—“It was like having a human ‘google’ at your fingertips”—said one, and joked that he really should be a gameshow contestant because of his depth of all round knowledge. Patrick put that deep rooted knowledge to work daily in the fight against wildlife trafficking. He was a highly organized individual who could set up complex projects and his positive disposition meant that he was well-known to all his colleagues. 

Bryan threw himself into his daily work with apparently ceaseless energy. Colleagues remarked that “He never gave up.” Prior to joining Environment Canada, Bryan lived in Taiwan where he quickly learned to speak and read the language, an invaluable skill as a number of suspects hadn’t expected a foreigner to be fluent in Chinese and as a result he was responsible for some significant convictions. Indeed, Bryan was always trying to outsmart the traffickers and he will be remembered for his great tenacity and crazy sense of humour.

TRAFFIC thanks Environment Canada for their generous donation in memory of their former colleagues and the contribution they made towards the international efforts to prevent wildlife crime. 


About Environment Canada

Environment Canada is the lead agency for implementing provisions under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in Canada.