Title

Robust Forensic Matching of Confiscated Horns to Individual poached African rhinoceros

Authors

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 UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-8-2018

Publication Title

Current Biology

ISSN

0960-9822

Volume

28

Issue/No.

1

First Page

R13

Last Page

R14

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 19^th 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 19^th 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.

NSUWorks Citation

Harper, Cindy; Anette Ludwig; Amy Clarke; Kagiso Makgopela; Andrey A. Yurchenko; Alan Guthrie; Pavel Dobrynin; Gaik Tamazian; Richard Emslie; Marile van Heerden; Markus Hofmeyr; Roderick Potter; Johannes Roets; Piet Beytell; Moses Otiende; Linus Kariuki; Raoul du Toit; Natasha Anderson; Joseph Okori; Alexey Antonik; Klaus-Peter Koepfli; Peter Thompson; and Stephen James O'Brien. 2018. "Robust Forensic Matching of Confiscated Horns to Individual poached African rhinoceros." Current Biology 28, (1): R13-R14. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.005.

ORCID ID

0000-0001-7353-8301

ResearcherID

N-1726-2015

DOI

10.1016/j.cub.2017.11.005