A tale of the traded cat: development of a rapid real-time PCR diagnostic test to distinguish between lion and tiger bone

Dalton, Desiré L.; Kotzé, Antoinette; McEwing, Ross; Bruyn, Marli De; Mnisi, Clearance; Mwale, Monica

doi:10.1007/s12686-018-1060-x

Cited by 10 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 9 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Forensic methods can overcome such limitations in seizure records and address the source and origin of legally traded products that were recorded as previously confiscated or seized in the CITES database. Tiger DNA and forensic evidence can be collected from fur, claws, meat, and bones (Morgan et al, 2021) and a real-time DNA identification method has been developed for tiger bones (Dalton et al, 2020). It is not always possible to collect DNA sequences from heavily processed products though snow leopard (Panthera uncia) has been detected and identified in traditional medicines using DNA analysis (Coghlan et al, 2015).…”

Section: Forensic Dna Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade (2003–2012)

Khanwilkar

Sosnowski

Guynup

2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Poaching and illegal trade are primary threats to tigers (Panthera tigris). Trade in tiger parts has been well documented in Asia. However, little is known about tiger parts entering the United States (US). We analyzed seizures of tiger parts trafficked through US ports of entry from 2003 to 2012 along with shipments that had been issued legal Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species import permits. We found 292 seizure incidents and 283 permitted imports over that 10-year period. The amount of tiger parts trafficked into the US illegally was larger than what has been previously reported. Most tiger parts entered the US legally and illegally for personal purposes; 81.8% of seized items were medicinal products. San Francisco, Dallas, and Atlanta were entry hotspots for illegal tiger imports which mainly entered the United States from China and Vietnam. Of the 65.8% of seized parts with a known origin, 99.5% originated from wild tigers. Since country of origin and source of many legally and illegally traded tiger parts was unknown, we recommend the use of forensic DNA analysis to address these knowledge gaps to focus conservation and enforcement efforts. Research should continue in the United States to adequately capture the global supply, demand, and trade of tiger parts.

show abstract

Section: Forensic Dna Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade (2003–2012)

Khanwilkar

Sosnowski

Guynup

2022

Conservat Sci and Prac

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For species identification, a rapid, low-cost allelic discrimination real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay was used to confirm lion and possible tiger in all samples, following the protocol described in Dalton et al (2020) [26]. In summary, fixed nucleotide differences (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms; SNPs) were identified in three mitochondrial genes (control region, 12S and 16S ribosomal RNA).…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring compliance of CITES lion bone exports from South Africa

et al. 2021

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

From 2008 to 2018, South Africa permitted the export of captive-bred African lion (Panthera leo) skeletons to Southeast Asia under CITES Appendix II. Legal exports rose from approximately 50 individuals in 2008 to a maximum of 1,771 skeletons in 2016, and has led to ongoing concerns over possible laundering of non-lion, multiple-source and wild-sourced bones. South Africa is required under its obligations to CITES to employ mechanisms for monitoring and reporting trade, and to limit the potential for illegal trade and laundering of lion and other large felid bones. Monitoring tools for legal trade are critical to compliance with CITES. Here we evaluate the CITES-compliance procedure implemented by South Africa for export of lion bones and identify six essential general points for consideration in the implementation of animal export quota compliance protocols. We provide specific insight into the South African lion bone export monitoring system through: i) outlining the protocols followed; ii) assessing the utility of cranial morphology to identify species; iii) evaluating skeleton consignment weight as a monitoring tool; and iv) presenting molecular (DNA) species assignment and pairwise-comparative sample matching of individuals. We describe irregularities and illicit behaviour detected in the 2017 and 2018 lion bone quotas. Notably, we report that the compliance procedure successfully identified and prevented the attempted laundering of a tiger (P. tigris) skeleton in 2018. We emphasise the utility of mixed-method protocols for the monitoring of compliance in CITES Appendix II export quota systems.

show abstract

“…In recent years South African exports of lion bone have been subject to DNA-profiling tests and physical inspections at various stages of the export process from farm to airport as required under a quota implementation protocol (DEA 2017). The purpose of these tests are primarily to detect laundering of the bones of other felid species, specifically tiger (Panthera tigris) (Dalton et al 2018), and to ensure that multiple lion skeletons are not declared as one for export (Williams et al 2021) but not whether skeletons initially sampled on farms came from captive-bred or wild sources. Genetic techniques can prove useful and effective for the detection of laundering of wild products into captive-bred trade (Ogden et al 2009;Hogg et al 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years lion bones have been legally traded internationally to Asian markets from captive-bred sources in South Africa. There are also indications of increasing instances of illegal international trade in wild lion bones. The existence of parallel captive and wild supplies of lion bone are a cause of law enforcement concern regarding the potential for the laundering of illegally sourced bones through legal trade, and present a problem for the assessment of the conservation impact of wild lion bone trade due to the difficulty of determining what market-share wild and captive-bred lion bones account for. Captive-bred and wild lion bone are visually indistinguishable and no reliable method currently exists for distinguishing them. We present a preliminary study that explores the use of DART mass spectrometry as a method to differentiate between captive-bred and wild lion bones. We find that DART is able to differentiate between a batch of captive-bred South African lion bone and a batch of wild lion bone and suggest that DART mass spectrometry shows strong potential as a tool for the regulation and investigation of lion bone trade. Further testing is needed to prove the suitability of this technique. Therefore, we suggest that further research focuses on testing the capability of DART to differentiate between contemporary wild and captive-bred lion bone originating from South Africa, and attempts to identify chemical markers in bone that can be used as indicators of captive-bred origin.

show abstract

A tale of the traded cat: development of a rapid real-time PCR diagnostic test to distinguish between lion and tiger bone

Cited by 10 publications

References 9 publications

Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade (2003–2012)

Patterns of illegal and legal tiger parts entering the United States over a decade (2003–2012)

Monitoring compliance of CITES lion bone exports from South Africa

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

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About