Wildlife forensics
Resolutions / Decisions
- Paragraph 13. d) in Resolution Conf. 11.3 (Rev CoP17) on Compliance and enforcement
- Paragraphs 1. f) and 1. g) in Resolution Conf. 9.14 (Rev. CoP17) on Conservation of and trade in African and Asian rhinoceroses
- Paragraphs 21 to 25 in Resolution Conf. 10.10 (Rev CoP17) on Trade in elephant specimens
- Paragraph c) in Decision 17.83 and paragraph a) in Decision 17.85 on Enforcement matters
- List of Resolutions and Decisions with provisions on forensic applications
Related CITES meeting documents
- SC70 Doc. 30.1 Lutte contre la fraude
- SC70 Doc. 36 Procédure simplifiée pour les permis et certificats
- SC69 Doc. 31.1 on Enforcement matters
- CoP17 Doc. 25 on Enforcement matters
- CoP17 Doc. 25 Annex 4 on A review of wildlife forensic science and laboratory capacity to support the implementation and enforcement of CITES
Tools and Resources
- Electronic directory of laboratories conducting wildlife forensic testing (under development)
- Review of wildlife forensic science and laboratory capacity to support the implementation and enforcement of CITES
- Form for collection and sharing of data on rhinoceros horn seizures and on samples for forensic analysis (Resolution Conf. 9.14 (Rev. CoP17) - Annex)
- Guidelines on Methods and Procedures of Ivory Sampling and Analysis
- Training video on ivory sampling available in Arabic, Chinese, English and French
- Best practice guide for forensic timber identification
- The Law Enforcement Best Practice Flow Diagram for Timber leads front-line officers through the steps that should be completed when dealing with a load or shipment containing timber
- Wildlife Incident Support Teams (WISTs) consist of enforcement staff or relevant experts, that can be dispatched at the request of a country that has been affected by significant poaching, is confronted by a complex investigation, or that has made a large-scale seizure of CITES specimens, to assist authorities and guide and facilitate appropriate follow-up actions. A WIST can for example be deployed to assist national authorities to collect DNA samples from a large-scale ivory seizure for forensic analysis
Ivory ID:
- Ivory ID contains more than 700 reference samples from 30 African countries using data obtained from elephant ivory, with proven origin, provided by countries of origin, museums and others. It was developed as a tool to assist Parties in determining the age and origin of ivory, through isotope analysis. Ivory ID include contact information of certified laboratories that conduct isotope analyses
Wildlife forensics success stories and developments
- DNA To The Rescue: How Researchers Are Finding Illegal Shark Fins
- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland helps elephant ivory tell its secrets
- Wildlife forensics leaps in criminal justice process
- Combating transnational organized crime by linking multiple large ivory seizures to the same dealer – Journal of Science Advances
- How wildlife forensics may solve Thung Yai case - Thailand
- Met Police forensics kit helping to catch Kenyan ivory poachers - Kenya
- ICCWC deploys a Wildlife Incident Support Team (WIST) to Sri Lanka