SataMama reports that authorities have started using DNA technology to track ivory poachers. Maybe I don’t live in the right income bracket, but finding “faux ivory” never seems to be a problem for me, since I can’t think of anything I or anyone I know has that’s made of the stuff, except for Stampy the elephant. Still, the price of ivory has quadrupled as of late, which is motivating poachers something fierce. This brings us back to the DNA thing, which, since it’s used on ivory that’s already been removed from elephants, is too late for the victim, but can be used to identify the region where the elephant may have lived, which can lead to identification of trade routes, which can lead to — science justice attack! — arrests of poachers. So nice to see other uses for DNA than the OJ trial and Jurassic Park movies, no? Link.
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