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Robust Forensic Matching of Confiscated Horns to Individual poached African rhinoceros
Current Biology
  • Cindy Harper, University of Pretoria - South Africa; St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Anette Ludwig, University of Pretoria - South Africa
  • Amy Clarke, University of Pretoria - South Africa
  • Kagiso Makgopela, University of Pretoria - South Africa
  • Andrey A. Yurchenko, St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Alan Guthrie, University of Pretoria - South Africa
  • Pavel Dobrynin, St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Gaik Tamazian, St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Richard Emslie, IUCN SSC African Rhino Specialist Group - South Africa
  • Marile van Heerden, National Prosecuting Authority - Silverton, South Africa
  • Markus Hofmeyr, University of Pretoria - South Africa; South African National Parks
  • Roderick Potter, Queen Elizabeth Park - South Africa
  • Johannes Roets, South African Police Service - Pretoria
  • Piet Beytell, Ministry of Environment and Tourism - Windhoek, Namibia
  • Moses Otiende, Kenya Wildlife Service
  • Linus Kariuki, Kenya Wildlife Service
  • Raoul du Toit, Lowveld Rhino Trust - Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Natasha Anderson, Lowveld Rhino Trust - Harare, Zimbabwe
  • Joseph Okori, World Wildlife Foundation African Rhino Programme - Cape Town, South Africa
  • Alexey Antonik, St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute; St. Petersburg State University - Russia
  • Peter Thompson, University of Pretoria - South Africa
  • Stephen James O'Brien, St. Petersburg State University - Russia; Nova Southeastern University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-8-2018
Disciplines
Abstract

Black and white rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum) are iconic African species that are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Critically Endangered and Near Threatened (http://www.iucnredlist.org/), respectively. At the end of the 19th century, Southern white rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum simum) numbers had declined to fewer than 50 animals in the Hluhluwe-iMfolozi region of the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province of South Africa, mainly due to uncontrolled hunting. Efforts by the Natal Parks Board facilitated an increase in population to over 20,000 in 2015 through aggressive conservation management. Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis) populations declined from several hundred thousand in the early 19th century to ∼65,000 in 1970 and to ∼2,400 by 1995 with subsequent genetic reduction, also due to hunting, land clearances and later poaching. In South Africa, rhinoceros poaching incidents have increased from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 in 2014. This has occurred despite strict trade bans on rhinoceros products and strict enforcement in recent years.

Comments

©2017 Elsevier Ltd.

ORCID ID
0000-0001-7353-8301
ResearcherID
N-1726-2015
DOI
10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.005
Citation Information
Cindy Harper, Anette Ludwig, Amy Clarke, Kagiso Makgopela, et al.. "Robust Forensic Matching of Confiscated Horns to Individual poached African rhinoceros" Current Biology Vol. 28 Iss. 1 (2018) p. R13 - R14 ISSN: 0960-9822
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/stephen-obrien/695/