No abstract

Despite very strict wildlife protection acts in several countries and trading laws such as CITES, illegal trading and poaching of wildlife is still active mostly because of the use of their parts in Chinese medicinal products and ornaments. For successfully identifying wildlife and their parts, mitochondrial DNA sequencing is being used now-a-days. DNA bar coding using fragments of cytochrome b and cytochrome oxidase I genes are frequently utilized for mammalian species identification. This mini review describes some of the mtDNA sequences and STR markers used for mammalian species identification in the field of forensic wildlife along with the problems associated and their possible solutions.

Muscone is a precious product of Musk deer. The identification of alleged muscone in illegal trade is a demanding job for expert. Muskdeer hair characteristics were observed and GC/MS based muscone identification effective protocol was established in this study. Keywords: Illegal trade; Muskpod; Musk deer hair; Muscone identification; GC/MS. DOI: 10.3126/sw.v7i7.3829 Scientific World Vol.7(7) 2009 pp.68-70