Study: Small Groups Responsible for Smuggling Elephant Tusks

Study: Small Groups Responsible for Smuggling¹ Elephant Tusks³

Researchers say that as few as three major criminal groups are responsible for smuggling African elephant ivory tusks.

A tusk² 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.

The new study was published in Nature Human Behavior. The researchers examined the DNA⁴ of elephant tusks and evidence including telephone, financial, automobile⁵ and shipping⁶ records. They used the information to identify connections in trafficking operations across the continent.

The study

Biologist 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 killers⁷ themselves. Criminal organizations can easily replace the low-level poachers.

"If you can stop the trade where the ivory is being consolidated⁹ and exported out of the country, those are really the key players," said Wasser.

Consolidate⁸ means to join or combine together into one thing.

Each year, an estimated 500 metric tons of poached elephant tusks are shipped from Africa, mostly to Asia.

For 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?"

He 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.

Biologist Robert Pringle, who was not involved in the study, praised the work. He said the data shows connections that can lead to "strong inferences."

Earlier work

In 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.

In 2018, he recognized that finding identical DNA in tusks from two different ivory seizures¹¹ meant they were taken from the same animal – and likely by the same poaching network.

The new research identifies DNA belonging to elephant parents and children, as well as brothers and sisters.

Such genetic¹² links can provide information for wildlife officials seeking other evidence – cell phone records, license¹³ plates, shipping documents and financial statements – to link different ivory shipments.

Finding poaching hotspots

John 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 seizure¹⁰ of illegal goods would rarely lead to the identification of the major crime group responsible.

But now, he said, "The DNA links can alert us to the connections between individual seizures."

The new research led to the discovery that only a very few criminal groups are behind most of the ivory trade in Africa.

Researchers 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.

Traffickers that smuggle¹⁴ 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.

Brian 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."

Words in This Story

smuggle – v. to move (someone or something) from one country into another illegally and secretly

key – adj. extremely important

inference – n. a conclusion based on evidence and careful thinking

alert – v. to give (someone) important information about a possible problem, danger, etc. : to warn (someone)

confront – v. to deal with (something, such as a problem or danger)

conservation – n. the protection of plants, animals, and natural resources

1 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

2 tusk   

n.獠牙，长牙，象牙

参考例句：

• The wild boar had its tusk sunk deeply into a tree and howled desperately.野猪的獠牙陷在了树里，绝望地嗥叫着。
• A huge tusk decorated the wall of his study.他书房的墙上装饰着一支巨大的象牙。

3 tusks   

n.（象等动物的）长牙( tusk的名词复数 )；獠牙；尖形物；尖头

参考例句：

• The elephants are poached for their tusks. 为获取象牙而偷猎大象。
• Elephant tusks, monkey tails and salt were used in some parts of Africa. 非洲的一些地区则使用象牙、猴尾和盐。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

4 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

5 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 killers   

凶手( killer的名词复数 )； 消灭…者； 致命物； 极难的事

参考例句：

• He remained steadfast in his determination to bring the killers to justice. 他要将杀人凶手绳之以法的决心一直没有动摇。
• They were professional killers who did in John. 杀死约翰的这些人是职业杀手。

8 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

9 consolidated   

a.联合的

参考例句：

• With this new movie he has consolidated his position as the country's leading director. 他新执导的影片巩固了他作为全国最佳导演的地位。
• Those two banks have consolidated and formed a single large bank. 那两家银行已合并成一家大银行。

10 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

11 seizures   

n.起获( seizure的名词复数 )；没收；充公；起获的赃物

参考例句：

• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year. 今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Other causes of unconsciousness predisposing to aspiration lung abscess are convulsive seizures. 造成吸入性肺脓肿昏迷的其他原因，有惊厥发作。 来自辞典例句

12 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 smuggle   

vt.私运；vi.走私

参考例句：

• Friends managed to smuggle him secretly out of the country.朋友们想方设法将他秘密送出国了。
• She has managed to smuggle out the antiques without getting caught.她成功将古董走私出境，没有被逮捕。