Throughout their habitats gazelles (genus Gazella) face immediate threats due to anthropogenic effects and natural environmental changes. Excessive poaching plays a major role in their populations decline. Three unique populations of gazelles currently live in Israel: mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), Dorcas gazelle (Gazella Dorcas) and acacia gazelle (Gazella arabica acacia). Ongoing habitat degradation and constant pressure from illegal hunting has caused a continuous decrease in the last 10 years, stressing the need for drastic measures to prevent species extinction. Wildlife forensic science assists enforcement agencies in the escalating arms race against poachers. Wildlife forensic genetic tests being implemented in our laboratory offer both species and individual identification, which rely on two mitochondrial genes (12S rRNA and 16S rRNA) and nine nuclear Short Tandem Repeats (STR), respectively. The current study, presents a poaching case in which mitochondrial DNA-based species identification revealed the presence of mountain gazelle DNA on the seized items. Subsequently, STR markers linked the suspect to more than one gazelle, increasing the severity of the criminal charges.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigen.2016.05.018 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Unveiling Cryptic Diversity in Hylomys: A Commentary on Recent Taxonomic Revisions.
Integr Zool
January 2025
State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, China.
The genus Hylomys now comprises seven species instead of two; the Hylomys species in China should be classified as Hylomys peguensis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIdentification of plant-based spilled oils using direct analysis in real-time-time-of-flight mass spectrometry with hydrophobic paper sampling.
Environ Monit Assess
January 2025
Science and Technology Branch, Pacific Environmental Science Centre, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Pacific and Yukon Laboratory for Environmental Testing, North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Spilled plant-based oils behave very differently in comparison to petroleum oils and require different clean-up measures. They do not evaporate, disperse, dissolve, or emulsify to a significant degree but can polymerize and form an impermeable cap on sediment, smothering benthic media and resulting in an immediate impact on the wildlife community. The current study explored the application of rapid up-to-date direct analysis in real time (DART) with high-resolution mass spectrometry for plant-based oil typing.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUsing fingermark powders and lifters on pangolin scales for anti-poaching measures.
Forensic Sci Int
January 2025
King's Forensics, Department of Analytical, Environmental and Forensic Sciences, King's College London, 150 Stamford Street, London SE1 9NH, UK. Electronic address:
Wildlife forensics is a relatively underexplored field of science. It provides forensic evidence to support legal investigations involving wildlife crime, such as the trafficking and poaching of animals and/or their goods. The consequences of poaching are not just limited to a decline in animal welfare and include the spread of zoonotic disease, species, cultural and habitat loss, and injury of anti-poaching rangers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFOGS: A SNPSTR Marker Database to Combat Wildlife Trafficking and a Cell Culture Bank for Ex-Situ Conservation.
Mol Ecol Resour
January 2025
Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn, Germany.
Illegal wildlife trade is a growing problem internationally. Poaching of animals not only leads to the extinction of populations and species but also has serious consequences for ecosystems and economies. This study introduces a molecular marker system that authorities can use to detect and substantiate wildlife trafficking.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrom confiscation to conservation: Wildlife DNA forensic for species identification of confiscated Felidae in Indonesia.
Forensic Sci Int
January 2025
Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Indonesia, Depok, West Java 16424, Indonesia.
Illegal wildlife trade poses a significant threat to Indonesia's biodiversity, especially among its diverse Felidae species (cats). While molecular methods have proven effective for identifying some Felidae species, there remains a gap in comparing these techniques across different endemic Felidae species in Indonesia, particularly in cases involving multiple species in confiscated wildlife products. This study applies DNA forensic techniques to analyze 38 confiscated Felidae samples, identifying four species: Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), leopard (Panthera pardus), leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!