Novel detection of provenance in the illegal wildlife trade using elemental data

Abstract

Despite being the fourth largest criminal market in the world, no forensic tools have been sufficiently developed to accurately determine the legal status of seized animals and their parts. Although legal trading is permissible for farmed or captive-bred animals, many animals are illegally removed from the wild and laundered by masquerading them as captive bred. Here we present high-resolution x-ray fluorescence (XRF) as a non-invasive and cost-effective tool for forensic classification. We tested the efficacy of this technique by using machine learning on a training set of zoo specimens and wild-caught individuals of short-beaked echidnas (Tachyglossus aculeatus), a small insectivorous monotreme in Australia. XRF outperformed stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N), reducing overall classification error below 4%. XRF has the added advantage of providing samples every 200 μm on a single quill, enabling 100% classification accuracy by taking the consensus of votes per quill. This accurate and cost-effective forensic technique could provide a much needed in situ solution for combating the illegal laundering of wildlife, and conversely, assist with certification of legally bred animals.

Using feathers to map continental‐scale movements of waterbirds and wetland importance

“…Many chemical elements are incorporated into keratin from dietary sources, providing new opportunities to trace the origins of wildlife (Brandis, Meagher, et al, 2018). Compared to isotopic ratios, elemental abundances have received little attention as geographic markers in animal movement studies to date.…”

China’s Conservation Strategy Must Reconcile Its Contemporary Wildlife Use and Trade Practices

“…(3) placing the burden of proof on farmers and traders to provide evidence for the provenance of the animals they raise or sell; (4) strengthening both paperwork oversight and on-the-ground inspection of farms and trading sites, and cracking down on illegal purchase and resale of poached animals under the guise of captive breeding or special markings; and (5) investing and leveraging modern and advanced forensic techniques such as high-resolution x-ray fluorescence (Brandis et al, 2018), and isotopic and elemental markers (Natusch et al, 2017) to reinforce the utility of the special marking.…”

DART mass spectrometry as a potential tool for the differentiation of captive-bred and wild lion bones

“…Chemical elemental techniques, predominantly stable isotope and X-ray fluorescence analyses, have been used to differentiate between captive-bred or wild specimens of wildlife (Hinsley et al 2016;Sugiyama et al 2018;Brandis et al 2018;He et al 2018) but recent attempts to differentiate captive-bred and wild lion hair through carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses have not been conclusive (Hutchinson and Roberts 2020). However, advances in technology have significantly increased the speed and convenience of multi-compound mass spectrometry analyses through use of Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) mass spectrometry (Cody et al 2005a, b).…”