DNA testing exposes tactics of international criminal networks to sell ivory

The paper, published Feb.

Uncovering links between ivory seizures in African and Asian ports could provide more evidence for those caught poaching elephants and smuggling ivory, and strengthen the prosecution of responsible transnational criminal organizations, the study said said lead author Samuel Wasser, a professor of biology at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Environmental Forensic Science, where the team developed the genetic tools behind the work

"These methods show us that there are several networks behind most smuggled ivory that are more deeply connected than our previous studies have shown," Wasser said

The illegal ivory trade, combined with habitat loss, climate change and other factors, has killed two elephant species in Africa

Research by Wasser and his collaborators, published in the journal Science Advances in 2018, found that the tusks of the same elephant were separated and smuggled before being seized by law enforcement

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In this new effort, Wasser and his colleagues expanded their DNA analysis and testing methods to also identify the tusks of closely related elephants -- parents and offspring, full-siblings and half-siblings

"If you're trying to match one tusk to another, the chances of a match are low

The team tested the extended protocol on 4,320 tusks from forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis and grassland elephant Loxodonta africana, 49 separate bulk tusks totalling 111 tonnes, all seized between 2002 and 2019

"Identifying close relatives suggests that poachers may return to the same populations repeatedly, year after year, and the ivory is then acquired and smuggled out of Africa by container ships of the same criminal network,

Genetic data suggest that there may be several interconnected smuggling networks behind most large shipments of ivory, mostly from ports in Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria

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A larger analysis could also track how smuggling networks have shifted operations to different ports over time: from Tanzania in the early 2000s; then Kenya and Uganda; and most recently, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo

"By linking the individual tusks that were seized, we created a smuggling network trying to get those tusks out of the continent," Wasser said

The criminals behind an ivory seizure will be prosecuted for that seizure alone

Co-authors are UW biostatistics doctoral student Charles Wolock; U.

This research was funded by the Paul and Yaffe Maritz Family Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Network, Elephant Crisis Fund, UNDP, Paul G.
Allen Family Foundation, Woodtiger Foundation, Wildcat Foundation, U.
S.
Department of State, U.
S.
Department of Homeland Security, HSI, World Bank, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, National Institute of Justice and National Institute of Health
.

Journal Reference :

1. Samuel K.
   Wasser, Charles J.
   Wolock, Mary K.
   Kuhner, John E.
   Brown, Chris Morris, Ryan J.
   Horwitz, Anna Wong, Charlene J.
   Fernandez, Moses Y.
   Otiende, Yves Hoareau, Zofia A.
   Kaliszewska, Eunjin Jeon, Kin-Lan Han, Bruce S.
   Weir.
   Elephant genotypes reveal the size and connectivity of transnational ivory traffickers .
   Nature Human Behaviour , 2022; DOI: 10.
   1038/s41562-021-01267-6

University of Washington.
"DNA testing exposes tactics of international criminal networks trafficking elephant ivory.
" ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 14 February 2022.
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University of Washington.
(2022, February 14).
DNA testing exposes tactics of international criminal networks trafficking elephant ivory.
ScienceDaily .
Retrieved February 14, 2022 from

University of Washington.
"DNA testing exposes tactics of international criminal networks trafficking elephant ivory.
" ScienceDaily.
(accessed February 14, 2022).