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Elephant DNA Helps Catch Poachers

Posted by timothy on Tuesday September 28, 2004 @05:50PM from the difficult-task dept.

hookedup writes "By mapping the genetic profile of elephant groupings across the African continent, a team of researchers can verify where siezed ivory originated, and alert police to poaching hot spots. The study indicated that 50 percent of the samples tested were accurately located within 300 miles and 80 percent were accurate to within less than 600 miles. While still not a proactive approach, it still is a helpful tool in catching poachers."

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Re:DNA Testing Does Not Stop Poachers! by Anonymous Coward · 2004-09-29 02:20 · Score: 1, Informative

Doing DNA tests on poached tusks might determine where the elephant came from, but does nothing to stop the poacher.

Umm.. so knowing in which area and which herds the poacher is operating is not useful in catching him. How do you recon that?