![]() Researchers are now working to build a similar database for Asian rhinos. It uses genetic sequences called “short tandem repeats” (STRs) to get a sort of bar-code unique to each animal, which includes a sex marker and a species marker that differentiates between black and white rhinos ( Ceratotherium simum and Diceros bicornis, respectively). The concept behind RhODIS is based on a DNA indexing system developed by American law enforcement to track the genetic fingerprints of human criminals. It also holds DNA samples from suspects’ weapons and clothing that can help link them to specific poaching incidents. It includes samples from both living and dead rhinos, rhinoceros horns kept in stockpiles, and trophies. It currently holds the data of more than 30,000 African rhinoceros individuals. The University of Pretoria is the custodian of this database. “The African rhinoceros range states that have utilized the system for both poaching investigations and databasing their live rhino DNA include Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Uganda and South Africa,” VGL’s Cindy Harper told Mongabay in an email. RhODIS has expanded into other African countries. RhODIS has proven to be so reliable that in 2012 the South African government made it compulsory for researchers and law enforcement officials to collect DNA samples from dead rhinos – including those that die of natural causes - and rhinos that receive veterinary care. Still, that’s better than the 2.6% conviction rate in 2010. ![]() VGL notes that while South African authorities made 1,164 poaching arrests from 2010-2014, fewer than 5% resulted in convictions. These reports don’t necessarily translate into criminal convictions. Technicians process rhino DNA samples at the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. On top of that, the RhODIS database has played a crucial role in identifying the origin of many recovered horns, such as those recovered from a Vietnamese trafficker less than six weeks after the rhinoceros were poached in Kruger National Park. Since then, the RhODIS team has prepared more than 200 forensic reports, securing at least six high-profile convictions thus far including Xuan Hoang – a Vietnamese citizen sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment after being found with poached rhinoceros horns in his baggage at the Johannesburg airport. The Rhino DNA Index System (RhODIS) was born in the University of Pretoria’s Veterinary Genetics Laboratory (VGL) in 2010. Rhino DNA: from field to database to court DNA profiling has proven to be a powerful one. To keep the rhino death toll down and to help secure convictions of wildlife traffickers, conservationists and law enforcers need every available tool in their arsenal. Meanwhile, the critically endangered Javan and Sumatran rhinos have such small populations that, while poaching cases are few and far between, the premature death of even a single animal can have an impact on the species as a whole. While the species’ population growth remains healthy, poaching is a constant threat. But numbers have crept up in recent years, with 22 of Assam’s rhinos killed by poachers in 2016. ![]() ![]() In India’s Assam state, where the majority of greater one-horned rhinos ( Rhinoceros unicornis) live, poaching numbers soared in the 1980s and 1990s, peaking with 49 rhinos killed in 1992, before falling off dramatically in the early 2000s. In comparison, poaching of Asian rhinos currently occurs on a much smaller scale. Between 20, rhino poaching in South Africa increased almost 90-fold, from 13 rhinos killed in 2007 to 1,175 in 2015, according to United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) data. South Africa currently is at the epicentre of a poaching epidemic driven by East Asian demand for rhino horn as a status symbol or a traditional medical treatment. ![]() A South African National Park ranger collects forensic evidence from a wildlife crime scene. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |