Elephants are at greater danger from poachers now than they were before the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) took effect, say scientists. By the time CITES was ratified in 1989, more than half of Africa’s elephants had been killed for the ivory trade. But fifteen years later, in just one year from 2005-06, as many as 23,000 of Africa’s 400,000 elephants were killed, and 26 tons of smuggled ivory was seized. The rising price of ivory, armed conflicts in African countries, and poor funding of prevention efforts have all contributed to the rise in illegal hunting. But a new technique will allow shipments to be traced back to the country they came from using the elephants’ DNA, which will help in focusing scarce prevention and enforcement efforts.
Source: David Biello, DNA test pinpoints elephant poaching, aiding conservation. Scientific American, February 26, 2007.
