Endangered species repository

Elephant tusks, leopard heads, crocodile skin purses and tiger skins — more than 1.5 million items in all — fill the shelves of a warehouse on a wildlife refuge near Denver.

The National Wildlife Property Repository is the only place in the United States that stores such a large collection of seized wildlife items. It provides a macabre look at the cost of the global trafficking of endangered and threatened animals.

The contents of the Colorado center operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement include an array of animal parts, large and small, and the items made from them — skins, carved ivory, boots, even medicines.

The confiscated items come from law enforcement agencies around the country.

"You can think of us as customs for wildlife," said Coleen Schaefer, who supervises the repository.

A multibillion-dollar industry, the black market in wildlife is the fourth most profitable in the world, after illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs and humans, Schaefer said.

The repository has a loan program for schools, museums and nonprofits that have a conservation message. It also sends items to research institutions.

"Our main purpose is to provide conservation education about the legal and illegal wildlife trade," Schaefer said.

Nearby is the National Eagle Repository, also a one-of-a-kind facility in the U.S. that stores dead bald and golden eagles and their parts and feathers. Alaska Natives and Native Americans in federally recognized tribes may use the feathers for religious purposes.

Use of the center's feathers reduces pressure to take eagles from the wild, the Fish and Wildlife Service says.

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, supervising wildlife repository specialist Coleen Schaefer holds a seized ivory carving which smugglers tried to conceal inside pottery, inside a warehouse at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. More than 20,000 elephants are being killed annually despite some progress in anti-poaching efforts and the increasing awareness of governments, according to Lamine Sebogo, a representative from the World Wildlife Fund in March 2013. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Pictures Of The Week Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

A box containing a seized stuffed tiger head sits yet to be unpacked inside a warehouse at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo., on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2015. There are an estimated 3,200 tigers left in the wild. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, an illegally trafficked stuffed endangered frog is stored on a shelf in a warehouse at the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. A multibillion-dollar industry, the black market in wildlife is the fourth-most-profitable in the world, after illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs and humans, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015, photo, an illegally-trafficked stuffed rhino is among the more than one million seized items stored inside a warehouse at the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement runs the facility, whose contents reflect the full array of the multibillion-dollar rare wildlife products trade. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, illegally trafficked animal products are displayed in a warehouse at the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. A multibillion-dollar industry, the black market in wildlife is the fourth-most-profitable in the world, after illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs and humans, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, a leopard skin jacket hangs on shelves packed with illegally trafficked lion heads and other animal parts stored in a warehouse inside the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement investigates wildlife crimes and regulates wildlife trade. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

APTOPIX Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, illegally trafficked leopard and tiger heads stored by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement fill the shelves of a warehouse inside the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. More than 1.5 million items fill the shelves of the warehouse on a wildlife refuge just northeast of Denver. A one-of-its-kind repository, it's the only place in the United States that stores such a large collection of wildlife items seized by law enforcement, offering a macabre look at the cost of the global trafficking of endangered and threatened animals. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, illegally trafficked animals parts are stored on shelves in a warehouse inside the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. A multibillion-dollar industry, the black market in wildlife is the fourth-most-profitable in the world, after illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs and humans, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Endangered Species Warehouse Photo Gallery

In this Oct. 20, 2015 photo, a seized stuffed tiger sits inside a warehouse at the National Wildlife Property Repository in Commerce City, Colo. A multibillion-dollar industry, the black market in wildlife is the fourth-most-profitable in the world, after illegal trafficking in weapons, drugs and humans, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

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Text from the AP news story, AP PHOTOS: Repository brims with seized wildlife items. 

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