title: CONSERVATION. Genetic assignment of large seizures of elephant ivory reveals Africa's major poaching hotspots.
abstract: Poaching of elephants is now occurring at rates that threaten African populations with extinction. Identifying the number and location of Africa's major poaching hotspots may assist efforts to end poaching and facilitate recovery of elephant populations. We genetically assign origin to 28 large ivory seizures (≥0.5 metric tons) made between 1996 and 2014, also testing assignment accuracy. Results suggest that the major poaching hotspots in Africa may be currently concentrated in as few as two areas. Increasing law enforcement in these two hotspots could help curtail future elephant losses across Africa and disrupt this organized transnational crime.
authors.affiliation: Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195-1800, USA. wassers@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Wasser
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195-7232, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195-1800, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mailand
authors.affiliation: Center for Conservation Biology, Department of Biology, University of Washington, Box 351800, Seattle, WA 98195-1800, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mondol
authors.affiliation: INTERPOL, Environmental Security Sub-Directorate (ENS), Lyon, France.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195-7232, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Laurie
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Box 357232, Seattle, WA 98195-7232, USA.
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Weir
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D000818:Animals; D003415:Crime / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004606:Elephants / Q000235:genetics*; D056727:Endangered Species / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D005787:Gene Frequency; D056426:Genetic Loci; D060005:Genotyping Techniques; D035846:Law Enforcement; D011153:Population