DNA of African Elephant Ivory Uncovers Trafficking Networks

Scientists have used DNA testing of ivory to expose the international criminal networks behind the trafficking of the product from Africa. 

To discover more about the criminal networks sustaining this trade, researchers in the U.S., Kenya, and Singapore have extracted as much data as possible from the products of illegal ivory trafficking in Africa, writes Jason Gilchrist for The Conversation.

The new study has analysed the DNA of elephant tusks seized from 49 large shipments impounded in African ports between 2002 and 2019. The researchers sampled 111 tonnes of ivory from at least 4,320 poached African elephants - a fraction of the total haul. 

Lead author Samuel Wasser, a University of Washington professor of biology and director of the Centre for Environmental Forensic Science, whose group developed the genetic tools behind this work, said: "These methods are showing us that a handful of networks are behind a majority of smuggled ivory, and that the connections between these networks are deeper than even our previous research showed.

Africa's elephant population is dwindling fast. From around 5 million elephants a century ago to 1.3 million in 1979, the total number of elephants in Africa is now estimated to be around 415,000.