Ivory poaching ‘hot spots’ found using DNA

Researchers also found most of the seized ivory was shipped from a different country

LONDON: Two geographical “hot spots” in Africa where illegal elephant poaching accounts for most of the ivory smuggled overseas have been identified by a major DNA study of seized shipments – leading to hopes that authorities will be better able to target their efforts and crack down on the crime.

A genetic analysis of the ivory in 51 different shipments confiscated across Africa and Asia has revealed that, since 2007, about 85 percent of Africa’s elephant poaching has been concentrated in two areas on opposite sides of the continent.

Scientists found the tusks of forest elephants were most likely to come from a region in West Africa covering Gabon, the Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic, whereas those from savannah elephants came from an area focused on the border area between Tanzania and Mozambique.

The identification of the geographical origins of the ivory trade could help to channel anti-poaching resources more effectively against an illegal activity that funds organised international crime and terrorism as well as jeopardising the survival of a species, the researchers said.

It is estimated that in 2011 alone, 40 000 elephants were slaughtered for their valuable ivory. By 2013, the number could have risen to 50 000, given that 51 tons of ivory were seized in transit that year, compared with 41 tons in 2011, the scientists said.

“When you’re losing a 10th of the population a year, you have to do something more urgent – nail down where the major killing is happening and stop it at the source,” said Samuel Wasser, a biologist at Washington University in Seattle, who led the study published in the journal Science.

The pioneering study involved building a geographical map of the natural variation in elephant DNA by analysing samples of dung, tissue and hair collected from 1 350 elephants living across Africa.

This enabled the scientists to locate the origin of a seized ivory tusk to location with an accuracy of between 300km and 500km. They analysed shipments from 1996 and found that up to 2007, all but one of the shipments came from four areas. After 2007 they became concentrated on just two – one in West Africa where the forest elephant lives, the other in East Africa involving the larger, savannah species.

The study revealed the savannah elephant hot spot, centred on the Selous Game Reserve in south-eastern Tanzania and the Niassa Reserve in adjacent northern Mozambique, began to shift northward in 2011 towards Kenya.

Researchers also found most of the seized ivory was shipped, or about to be shipped, from a different country to its origins, suggesting traffickers were attempting to cover the tracks of an illegal trade that is now the fourth largest international crime. – The Independent