These New Inventions Could Help Stop Wildlife Smuggling

They include a whistleblower system to report wildlife crime and a DNA test to pinpoint poaching hot spots of the world’s most trafficked mammal.

 

By Christine Dell'Amore

PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 3, 2016

HONOLULU, HAWAIIEvery year about 10 million aquarium fish pass through United States ports, many on their way to new homes as family pets. But first, federal inspectors must leaf through mountains of paperwork on the animals, which are shipped from more than 40 countries around the world.

“Until recently, the [inspectors] didn’t even have wireless access in the warehouses,” says Michael Tlusty, director of ocean sustainability and science at the New England Aquarium.

That’s why it can be easy to miss illegal wildlife trade—for instance, an endangered fish swimming about with other species that’s not declared on a shipment invoice. “Lots of wildlife gets hidden in plain sight,” according to Tlusty. “How do you know what’s in the box?”

Enter the aquarium’s new tablet-based platform that allows people to digitize and quickly track wildlife trade invoices, and then scan for discrepancies or red flags that point to illegal activity. “We want to develop this as a real-time solution,” Tlusty says. Inspectors “can go into the warehouse and use this tablet to decide if they should or should not inspect a shipment.”

Continued 

Testing inconclusive, suspected bobcat returned

May 17, 2014 8:16 AM

STAFFORD, N.J. (AP) — Rocky's mother was 98 percent bobcat.

But because a DNA test couldn't determine the 38-pound feline's father's lineage, a judge ruled Friday that the runaway cat be returned to a New Jersey woman.

Municipal Court Judge Damian Murray ruled that Ginny Fine can regain custody of Rocky after a mitochondrial DNA test found that the cat's mother was 98 percent bobcat, but couldn't determine its father's lineage, the Asbury Park Press reported (http://on.app.com/1oA0Am1 ).

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited solely from the mother.

"The bottom line is, Rocky goes home," Murray said.

Fine, who has maintained that Rocky is a hybrid bobcat and Maine coon, said she was shocked by the ruling.

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New DNA Test On Roo Poo Identifies Species

June 6, 2013 — A simple and cost-effective DNA test to identify kangaroo species from their droppings which will boost the ability to manage and conserve kangaroo populations has been developed by University of Adelaide researchers.

The researchers developed the test using hundreds of collected droppings across north-eastern Australia and extracting DNA from the samples, published in the conservation journal Wildlife Research.

A unique pattern of DNA fragmentation was established for each species, eliminating the need for gene sequencing which is costly, much more time-consuming and requires sophisticated laboratory equipment.

The test has already identified a number of species of kangaroo occurring well outside their known range which has important implications for population management and conservation.

"The more information on the distribution of species, the better management decisions can be made, particularly in gauging potential land-use and climate change impacts on biodiversity," says PhD student and lead author Jessica Wadley.

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First beaver spotted at a Perthshire loch in 400 years is given a DNA test

The first wild beaver in more than 400 years has been trapped at a Perthshire nature reserve in order to perform health checks and a DNA test.

The wild beaver had been spotted at the Loch of the Lowes in August.

Staff have managed to catch the animal, which has been identified as a two to three year old male European Beaver.

The aquatic mammal was taken to Edinburgh Zoo for a proper health check and DNA testing, before being released back into the reserve.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust (SWT), along with the Tayside Beaver Study Group, has been monitoring the animal at the Loch of the Lowes since it was first spotted last summer.

Staff placed a humane trap, baited with carrots and apples, near the beaver's lodge.

Once caught, it was taken to the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) vet in Edinburgh, where the male beaver was given a full check for diseases and a sample of DNA taken.

Monitoring impact

The animal was re-released on the reserve later the same day, where staff said "he ambled happily down to the water's edge" and swam back to his lodge.

A spokesman at the reserve said: "We intend, of course, to continue monitoring the beaver at Loch of the Lowes and his behaviour, as well as any impact he has on the reserve's ecology.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-21956439

Sasquatch in Siberia? Hair found in Russian cave 'belonged to unknown mammal closely related to man'

Hair did not belong to any known animal from the region such as a bear, wolf, or goat

Mysterious mammal more closely related to man than to monkeys

Astonishing claims were made in Russia today that DNA tests on suspected 'Yeti hair' reveals the existence of 'an unknown mammal closely related to man'.

The 'tests' were conducted on samples of hair found in a Siberian cave during an international expedition last year.

'We had ten samples of hair to study, and have concluded that they belong to mammal, but not a human,' said Professor Valentin Sapunov, of the Russian State Hydrometeorological Institute.

Nor did the hair belong to any known animal from the region such as a bear, wolf, or goat, he claimed.

Analysis was conducted in the Russia and US and 'agreed the hair came from a human-like creature which is not a Homo sapien yet is more closely related to man than a monkey', said the Siberian Times, citing claims made on a regional government website in Russia in the area where the hair samples were allegedly found. 

It stated that long-awaited scientific tests were conducted on their hair at two institutions in Russia and one in Idaho in the US.

Read on:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2225276/Yeti-latest-Russian-scientists-say-DNA-tests-hair-samples-existence-man-like-mammal.html

When is a wildcat really a wildcat?

With claims big cats are stalking the countryside, researchers are developing a DNA test to identify Scotland's pure-bred wildcats.

There have been questions whether sightings of "big cats" might be wildcats or feral domestic cats.

But researchers at the University of Chester want to find a gene test to distinguish wildcats from hybrids cross-bred with domestic cats.

The study wants to protect the pure-bred wildcats from extinction.

Geneticists at the university want to find a DNA test to define whether a cat is a pure-bred wildcat, which can be up to 4ft (1.22m) long.

'The last stand'

Senior lecturer in biology, Paul O'Donoghue, believes there might be fewer than 100 Scottish wildcats surviving in the wild - with their future threatened by inter-breeding with runaway domestic cats.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-19411647