Study: Small Groups Responsible for Smuggling Elephant Tusks
2022-02-21
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1Researchers say that as few as three major criminal groups are responsible for smuggling African elephant ivory tusks.
2A tusk represents a dead elephant.
3And the research comes as Africa's elephant population is decreasing quickly.
4The elephant population in Africa is estimated to be about 415,000.
5In 1979, there were about 1.3 million elephants on the continent and 100 years ago, the number was 5 million.
6The new study was published in Nature Human Behavior.
7The researchers examined the DNA of elephant tusks and evidence including telephone, financial, automobile and shipping records.
8They used the information to identify connections in trafficking operations across the continent.
9Biologist Samuel Wasser of the University of Washington is a lead writer of the study.
10He said he hopes it helps police target the leaders of these networks instead of the elephant killers themselves.
11Criminal organizations can easily replace the low-level poachers.
12"If you can stop the trade where the ivory is being consolidated and exported out of the country, those are really the key players," said Wasser.
13Consolidate means to join or combine together into one thing.
14Each year, an estimated 500 metric tons of poached elephant tusks are shipped from Africa, mostly to Asia.
15For around twenty years, Wasser has been interested in a few key questions: "Where is most of the ivory being poached, who is moving it, and how many people are they?"
16He works with wildlife officials in Kenya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and elsewhere,
17who contact him when they discover ivory shipments.
18He flies to the countries to take small samples of tusks to study the DNA.
19He has samples from the tusks of more than 4,300 elephants taken out of Africa from 1995 to the present.
20Biologist Robert Pringle, who was not involved in the study, praised the work.
21He said the data shows connections that can lead to "strong inferences."
22In 2004, Wasser showed that DNA from elephant tusks and waste could be used to find an elephant's home location to within a few hundred kilometers.
23In 2018, he recognized that finding identical DNA in tusks from two different ivory seizures meant they were taken from the same animal - and likely by the same poaching network.
24The new research identifies DNA belonging to elephant parents and children, as well as brothers and sisters.
25Such genetic links can provide information for wildlife officials seeking other evidence - cell phone records, license plates, shipping documents and financial statements - to link different ivory shipments.
26John Brown III is a special agent with the United States Homeland Security Department and wrote the study with Wasser.
27The agent's work on environmental crimes goes back 25 years.
28Brown has told the Associated Press that in the past,
29a single seizure of illegal goods would rarely lead to the identification of the major crime group responsible.
30But now, he said, "The DNA links can alert us to the connections between individual seizures."
31The new research led to the discovery that only a very few criminal groups are behind most of the ivory trade in Africa.
32Researchers identified several poaching hotspots, including areas of Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Gabon and Republic of Congo.
33Tusks are often moved to storage centers where they are loaded into shipping containers with other illegal goods.
34Then, the containers go to ports for travel out of Africa.
35Traffickers that smuggle ivory also often deal in other illegal goods, as well, the research shows.
36A fourth of large seizures of pangolin scales are mixed with ivory, for instance.
37The pangolin, a large ant-eating mammal, is poached heavily.
38Brian Arnold, a Princeton University biologist who was not involved in the research, said, "Confronting these networks is a great example of how genetics can be used for conservation purposes."
39I'm John Russell. And I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Researchers say that as few as three major criminal groups are responsible for smuggling African elephant ivory tusks. 2A tusk represents a dead elephant. And the research comes as Africa's elephant population is decreasing quickly. The elephant population in Africa is estimated to be about 415,000. In 1979, there were about 1.3 million elephants on the continent and 100 years ago, the number was 5 million. 3The new study was published in Nature Human Behavior. The researchers examined the DNA of elephant tusks and evidence including telephone, financial, automobile and shipping records. They used the information to identify connections in trafficking operations across the continent. 4The study 5Biologist Samuel Wasser of the University of Washington is a lead writer of the study. He said he hopes it helps police target the leaders of these networks instead of the elephant killers themselves. Criminal organizations can easily replace the low-level poachers. 6"If you can stop the trade where the ivory is being consolidated and exported out of the country, those are really the key players," said Wasser. 7Consolidate means to join or combine together into one thing. 8Each year, an estimated 500 metric tons of poached elephant tusks are shipped from Africa, mostly to Asia. 9For around twenty years, Wasser has been interested in a few key questions: "Where is most of the ivory being poached, who is moving it, and how many people are they?" 10He works with wildlife officials in Kenya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and elsewhere, who contact him when they discover ivory shipments. He flies to the countries to take small samples of tusks to study the DNA. He has samples from the tusks of more than 4,300 elephants taken out of Africa from 1995 to the present. 11Biologist Robert Pringle, who was not involved in the study, praised the work. He said the data shows connections that can lead to "strong inferences." 12Earlier work 13In 2004, Wasser showed that DNA from elephant tusks and waste could be used to find an elephant's home location to within a few hundred kilometers. 14In 2018, he recognized that finding identical DNA in tusks from two different ivory seizures meant they were taken from the same animal - and likely by the same poaching network. 15The new research identifies DNA belonging to elephant parents and children, as well as brothers and sisters. 16Such genetic links can provide information for wildlife officials seeking other evidence - cell phone records, license plates, shipping documents and financial statements - to link different ivory shipments. 17Finding poaching hotspots 18John Brown III is a special agent with the United States Homeland Security Department and wrote the study with Wasser. The agent's work on environmental crimes goes back 25 years. Brown has told the Associated Press that in the past, a single seizure of illegal goods would rarely lead to the identification of the major crime group responsible. 19But now, he said, "The DNA links can alert us to the connections between individual seizures." 20The new research led to the discovery that only a very few criminal groups are behind most of the ivory trade in Africa. 21Researchers identified several poaching hotspots, including areas of Tanzania, Kenya, Botswana, Gabon and Republic of Congo. Tusks are often moved to storage centers where they are loaded into shipping containers with other illegal goods. Then, the containers go to ports for travel out of Africa. 22Traffickers that smuggle ivory also often deal in other illegal goods, as well, the research shows. A fourth of large seizures of pangolin scales are mixed with ivory, for instance. The pangolin, a large ant-eating mammal, is poached heavily. 23Brian Arnold, a Princeton University biologist who was not involved in the research, said, "Confronting these networks is a great example of how genetics can be used for conservation purposes." 24I'm John Russell. And I'm Ashley Thompson. 25Christina Larson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor. 26________________________________________________________________ 27Words in This Story 28smuggle - v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly 29key - adj. extremely important 30inference - n. a conclusion based on evidence and careful thinking 31alert - v. to give (someone) important information about a possible problem, danger, etc. : to warn (someone) 32confront - v. to deal with (something, such as a problem or danger) 33conservation - n. the protection of plants, animals, and natural resources