DNA tests carried out on elephant tusks have made it possible to discover the source of the illegal ivory trade and unravel a vast network in Africa formed by criminal organizations, says a study released on Monday (14).
The researchers examined 4,300 pachyderm tusks from 12 countries in Africa, with the aim of helping researchers fight the illegal ivory trade, which is responsible for decimating entire populations of elephants.
DNA tests were carried out on 49 ivory seizures carried out between 2002 and 2019, in containers where the tusks were hidden among other goods. The pieces, however, are almost never packaged in pairs, making investigations difficult.
Genetics, on the other hand, allowed researchers to link tusks from the same elephant that were dispersed in different loads, as a previous study by the same team in 2018 revealed.
However, as it is difficult to relate the tusks of the same elephant, the researchers decided to expand the investigation to close relatives: parents, children, siblings and half-siblings, according to the study published in the scientific journal Nature Human Behaviour.
The discovery of several kinship ties allowed the investigators to relate different seized shipments to each other and reach their origin. This showed that “poachers preyed on the same groups of elephants annually,” Samuel Wasser, the study’s lead author and professor of biology at Washington State University, told a news conference.
Prey are acquired and shipped as quickly as possible in containers out of Africa by the same criminal network.
Only one group of cartels is responsible for the departure of these shipments, most of them sent to Asian countries. Shipments are made at ports in East Africa, but there are also records of departures from the center and west of the continent, according to the study.
The disclosure of the connections will facilitate prosecutions against the traffickers, who will be accused not only of one-off arrests, but “of transnational crimes, which receive tougher convictions”, says John Brown, an investigator at the US Department of Homeland Security, who participates in the research.
About 50 tons of ivory are seized each year, which is equivalent to 10% of the world’s traffic.
