Elephant dung used to fight ivory trade
Print Edition
SCIENTISTS can now match DNA from elephant dung to DNA extracted from ivory to track down the source of large, illegal shipments of tusks and trinkets, researchers said.
Experts hope the methods will lead to a crackdown on wildlife crime in two main hotspots in Africa where the vast majority of the killings take place.
The illegal trade fuels the killing of about 50,000 African elephants each year and results in 40-50 tons of seized ivory.
Much of the demand for ivory comes from Asia, where it is carved into signature seals, jewelry, cigarette holders and other trinkets, making big profits for traffickers.
The two hotspots were identified as southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, followed by the Tridom protected ecosystem that includes parts of Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, southeast Cameroon and the southwestern Central African Republic.
“This is a major transnational organized crime,” said co-author Samuel Wasser from the University of Washington.
Identifying the hotspots, “prevents countries that are involved in this trade from denying the extent of their involvement, and it also allows the international community to work with these countries to stop this trade,” he said.
Time is of the essence because there are only about 470,000 African elephants remaining, and about one-tenth of the population is being lost each year to poaching.
For the study, researchers analyzed 28 ivory seizures made between 1996 and last year.
To trace the ivory, scientists took dung samples from 1,350 elephants in 29 African countries. By matching that DNA to the tusks, they could tell where the tusks had come from.
Experts have long known where poaching takes place, but Bill Clark, an adviser to Interpol, said the research is helping law enforcement home in on key areas.
It is “helping us to understand the structure and dynamics of the organized crime syndicates behind it,” he said.
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