Species identification from seized animal oil: a case study of suspected Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica)

Poaching of South Asian river dolphins is considered one of the main reasons for the rapid decline of their natural populations. To curb the escalated rate of poaching, high numbers of oil and meat seizures are recovered with subsequent convictions by the law enforcement agencies. In this connection...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of legal medicine 2021-07, Vol.135 (4), p.1413-1416
Main Authors: Singh, Abhishek, Ghosh, Avijit, Dolker, Stanzin, Chinnadurai, Venkatraman, Sharma, Lalit Kumar, Chandra, Kailash, Thakur, Mukesh
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Case Report
Case reports
Contaminants
Deoxyribonucleic acid
DNA
Dolphins
Failure rates
Forensic Medicine
Forensic sciences
Law enforcement
Meat
Medical Law
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Oils & fats
Poaching
Population genetics
Schedules
Seizures
Work measurement
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Summary:Poaching of South Asian river dolphins is considered one of the main reasons for the rapid decline of their natural populations. To curb the escalated rate of poaching, high numbers of oil and meat seizures are recovered with subsequent convictions by the law enforcement agencies. In this connection, we report a case where suspected animal oil was confiscated by the forest official of West Bengal. We extracted DNA and successfully amplified partial fragments of Cytb and 16S rRNA mitochondrial genes. The generated sequences identified that the seized oil belonged to the Ganges river dolphin (Platanista gangetica) which is protected as Schedule I under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 of India and listed as “Endangered” under IUCN and APPENDIX I in CITES. In routine case work analysis, oil samples are not preferred for forensic DNA investigation due to low DNA yield and presence of inhibitors or contaminants leading to high failure rate. However, the present study generates hope for identifying species from seized animal oil and supports law enforcement in successful prosecution of the case.
ISSN:0937-9827
1437-1596
DOI:10.1007/s00414-021-02574-3