Poaching hot spots through DNA by scientists

Washington, Feb 27: Scientists alarmed by a surge in theslaughter of elephants for ivory said they have devised a geneticmethod for tracking the origin of poached tusks and pinpointing ''hotspots'' for the illicit trade.

The killing of elephants for their tusks has reached levels notseen since a treaty that banned the ivory trade took effect in 1989,and the rise has been fueled by growing demand in Asia, the scientistssaid. The world community must act now or risk having the mammals,which live in Africa and Asia, become extinct, they said yesterday.

''Many, many people are unaware of how serious the problems havebecome again,'' lead researcher Samuel Wasser, director of theUniversity of Washington Center for Conservation Biology, said in aninterview.

Policing the illegal trade has been hampered by the inability ofauthorities to figure out the geographic origin of black-market ivory.

The researchers gathered genetic information on various elephantpopulations in Africa using tissue and dung samples from the animals.They then made a DNA-based map of the elephant populations.

Using tusks from a huge haul of contraband ivory seized inSingapore in 2002, the researchers used their genetic analysis todetermine where the elephants were killed.

Wildlife authorities initially thought the ivory came from forest-and savanna-dwelling African elephants from multiple locations inAfrica.

But an examination of 67 tusks from the 532 seized in Singaporeshowed the elephants were savanna dwellers from a small pocket ofsouthern Africa, probably centered on Zambia.

The research was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The researchers are working with international law enforcementauthorities and hope their method to pinpoint ivory origins can assistefforts against poaching.

'Poaching Hot Spots'

''What we're trying to do is to getidentified poaching hot spots,'' Wasser said. This information also canhelp detect smuggling trade routes, he added.

There are about 400,000 elephants remaining in the wild, most inAfrica and the rest in Asia. Before the 1989 treaty, poachers annuallyslaughtered about 87,000 elephants, roughly eight to nine per cent ofthe world population at the time, Wasser said.

''Now it's closer to about 25,000 elephants killed per year,''Wasser said, representing six to seven per cent of the worldpopulation. ''But there's way less elephants now.'' The roughly 130,000elephants in Botswana are generally safe, he said, but about nine percent of the remaining population elsewhere annually is being killed.

Wasser said the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania are two of the worst countries for elephant poaching.

The price of high-quality ivory doubled from 1989 to 2004, and hasnearly quadrupled in the past two years, fueled by a burgeoning marketin China and elsewhere in Asia. Organized crime also is more heavilyinvolved in the trade, Wasser said.

Wasser said Western nations must resume strong enforcement effortsto help combat the ivory trade, which had come to a virtual halt afterthe 1989 treaty before reviving.

Reuters>