US invests E2.7m in Eswatini’s 1st wildlife lab
MATSAPHA - In what will come as a relief to the wildlife and livestock sector, UNESWA has launched a forensic wildlife laboratory worth E2.7 million, which will assist in combating crime in these segments.
The Eswatini Wildlife (EWILD) Laboratory, which is the first-of-its-kind in the kingdom, was launched by the University of Eswatini (UNESWA) together with its partners; the United States Agency International Development (USAID) and All Out Africa Foundation yesterday at the Institute of Development Management (IDM) Campus in Matsapha. The laboratory will assist in addressing some of the thorny issues in the segments; wildlife and livestock crime, including smuggling of the animals.
During the launch, the United States of America Chargé d’Affaires Ambassador Earl Miller said; “The United States invested over E2.7 million to support and equip the EWILD Laboratory to help combat wildlife crimes and preserve Eswatini’s priceless natural heritage. The launch of Eswatini’s first wildlife forensic laboratory is another great example of the strong partnership between our nations.”
Also, players in the wildlife and livestock sectors described the development as one that would bring exciting times for them. Led by All Out Africa Foundation, in collaboration with UNESWA and funded by USAID, through its VukaNow grant, has enabled Eswatini to establish the first national wildlife laboratory.
Crime
According to the partners, this high- technology modern laboratory will support efforts to combat wildlife crime by applying standard international best practices. They said its services would also be extended to other sectors such as ecological research and livestock management.
They said the project was initiated in April 2022 by Dr Sara Padidar, a Molecular Biologist from the Department of Biological Sciences in UNESWA. They highlighted that the EWILD Laboratory had cutting-edge molecular capacity that would be critical to UNESWA, wildlife law enforcers and the general public.
The EWILD Laboratory, which was established under the leadership of Professor Thembalilahlwa Mahlaba, is housed at the Department of Biological Sciences, UNESWA. The partners said it would offer a variety of molecular forensic services including identification of species, identification of individual animals and various genetic analysis.
Dr Sara Padidar said; “If an animal is poached, we can use the sample from its body such as meat or fur to confirm its species as well as the specific individual animal.”
She said this was particularly important in wildlife crime cases, where there was a need to prove that meat found in possession of a suspect belonged to a wild animal or a protected species rather than to a goat, for example. She added that this level of expert molecular identification was previously unavailable in Eswatini and had to be done in neighbouring South Africa and it took a long time, sometimes up to six months to get the results. Also, she said this had financial implications.
Dr Padidar said the services of the EWILD Laboratory would not be limited to combatting wildlife crime, but could be used by domestic farmers and game reserve owners to monitor their livestock, such as providing genetic identification for individual animals and to check for inbreeding in order to maximise their productivity.
The doctor said the EWILD Laboratory team worked closely with international organisations such as Africa Wildlife Forensic Network, TRACE Wildlife Forensic Network and the South African Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) that have well-established laboratories. This, she said, had ensured that the EWILD Laboratory complied with the set international standards, thus providing clients with accurate and reliable results.
Meanwhile, Mick Reilly from Eswatini’s National Wildlife Authority, Big Game Parks (BGP) extended their relief in having the laboratory. He said if the protocols and equipment would be properly applied, which they believed it would be, this laboratory would bring relief in the turnaround time for forensic results needed to prove identities of seized wildlife specimens for Eswatini in combatting wildlife crime.
“This laboratory means that Eswatini can now conduct forensic investigations locally on poached and illegally trafficked animals as opposed to the expensive and time-consuming process of shipping samples to neighbouring countries. The successful prosecution of suspects relies on a long chain of collaborative efforts. Shortening the time frames will help to streamline this process and should result in higher prosecution success against poachers,” Reilly said.
Poaching
He added that as a wildlife law enforcement agency, BGP anticipates that this laboratory would be beneficial in helping to reduce the poaching of wildlife and in protecting their natural heritage.
Professor Ara Monadjem, a Taxonomist, who was also involved in the drafting of the grant proposal, said they were happy that finally, UNESWA had a molecular laboratory with cutting-edge technology that had the capability to do analysis, which could not previously be done in-country. The professor, who is one of the scientists who recently discovered a new species of bat, named Neoromicia hiandzeni in October 2022, said the laboratory would greatly boost biological research in Eswatini.
“When we discovered the new species of bat, we used molecular identification and this had to be done by international laboratories, even though the bat was found in Eswatini. With this new EWILD Laboratory, which has stateof-the-art molecular equipment, we can now perform analyses that we previously had to do outside the country, which will greatly enhance research and post-graduate training in Eswatini,” the professor said.