International wildlife forensics e-conference ends, draws attention to wildlife crime, biotech solutions

The recent advances and status of wildlife forensics were discussed in an international e- conference here. The e-conference, held from 3 to 5 November, was attended by nearly 700 wildlife biologists, veterinarians, scientists, students and conservationists from across the world, a press release said on Thursday. The meet on ‘Recent Advances and Status of Wildlife Forensics’ was organized by the Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) dedicated lab for wildlife research and conservation. The objectives of the conference were to discuss global status of wildlife crime, molecular technologies available to tackle the same and their applications for law enforcement. [caption id=“attachment_8987971” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”] A group of men arrested while trying to sell a tiger skin near Chandrapur. Image credit: Steve Winter/NatGeo[/caption] The participants were addressed by wildlife experts, including leaders from various governments and NGOs in wildlife conservation and sustainable development such as TRAFFIC International, USA, TRACE Wildlife Forensic Network, UK, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, India, Global Tiger Forum and Lawyers Initiative for Forest and Environment, it said. Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar concluded the conference with his views on the increased need for wildlife forensics as the country undertakes several major conservation efforts for big cats to marine life, the release said. Alluding to the growing threat from wildlife criminals to the protected species, Javadekar said, “To nip the menace of criminals in the bud, we need to present irrefutable evidences in the court of law, which can come from forensic sciences, the release quoted him as saying.