6月19日VOA聽力：用DNA測試肯定大象盜獵所在
There’s a new weapon in the fight to stop elephantpoaching: genetics. DNA testing, which is frequentlyused to solve crimes, has pinpointed where most ofAfrica’s elephants are being slaughtered.
The African elephant is the world’s largest landanimal and is vital to the environment in which it lives. But the elephant population isshrinking fast, as demand for illegal ivory remains high, especially in Asia.
University of Washington biology professor Sam Wasser and his colleagues conducted theivory DNA research. They tested samples seized by authorities between 1996 and 2014.
“We are currently losing an estimated 50,000 African elephants a year to poaching. And there’sonly about 470,000 elephants remaining in the population. So, that’s about a tenth of thepopulation being lost each year,” he said.
He said the best way to stop elephant poaching is to stop the demand for ivory. But that’s along, slow process. So Wasser said efforts must also focus on preventing attacks on theanimals.
“Their loss is already causing major ecological and economic damage in Africa, threateningnational security. And again, if we do not curb the killing, we are really going to cause seriousproblems throughout Africa.”
Researchers used DNA to determine the origin of large ivory seizures. They used ivory from28 seizures. Each weighed a minimum of half a metric ton and worth at least $1 million.
Wasser said, “The size and value of these seizures suggests that these are really involving largetransnational organized-crime syndicates. They’re individuals that can afford to lose a milliondollars in a single seizure. And what is also important about these large seizures is theyrepresent 70 percent of all ivory that is seized. So, we’re really talking about the majority ofivory being moved around the world.”
Wasser said that over the past decade, nearly all the seized ivory came from just two places inAfrica, mostly poached by organized crime. Ivory DNA was compared with DNA found in 1,500elephant dung samples.
“Virtually, all of these seizures came from just two hot spots. One is for forest elephants, whichis in the Triduum area of Central Africa. And that’s northeast Gabon, northwest Republic ofCongo and the adjacent Dzanga Sangha in Central African Republic. But the biggest hot spotwas in southern Tanzania. Probably two-thirds of the ivory came from there, starting in theSelous Game Reserve — a major protected area in the south — and the adjacent Niassa GameReserve in northern Mozambique.”
He said as the number of elephants dwindled in those areas, poaching moved toward RuahaNational Park and Rungwa Game Reserve in Tanzania.
He said that the DNA information can help authorities target poachers and “choke the flow ofivory into the complex criminal networks.”
The study said the DNA technique could be adapted to other animals as well, and its accuracyimproved. In fact, it could eventually allow authorities to mount coordinated, internationalresponses.
Researchers said the illegal wildlife trade is the world’s fourth-largest organized crime.
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