BANGALORE: The Forest Cell of the State Police has sent for DNA analysis the pelts of wild animals recovered from a trader recently in Haliyal in Uttara Kannada district and in Hubli. The analysis will help police know about the habitat of the animals and enable further investigation into the illegal wildlife trade.

A team from National Centre for Biological Studies (NCBS) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research on Wednesday collected the samples pelts of the tiger, leopard and the common otter. The forest cell sleuths had recovered the skins of a tiger, 23 leopards and 43 common otters on December 13, 2007 and arrested five persons, including Prabhakar Keshav, who is said to a vital link in the illegal wildlife trade in the country.

Speaking to reporters, Uma Ramakrishnan of NCBS said the pelts would be subjected to polymer chain reaction to get several copies of the DNA structure of each animal. These will be compared with other samples at the centre. “The study will help in identifying the habitat, the species and other individual characteristics of the wild animal,” she said.

Inspector-General of Police (Forest Cell) K.S.N. Chikkerur said a report on the pelts would help the Forest Cell in further investigation of the case, including identification of the areas from where these animals are being killed. “This will help in finding people involved in the trade and also taking measures for preventing poaching,” he said.

Ms. Ramakrishnan said the centre was in the process of creating a genetic database of wild animals that would help in pin-pointing the place from where the animal had been killed. The centre had collected data on tigers, leopards and jungle cats and was in the process of collecting information about macaques.

http://www.hindu.com/2008/01/18/stories/2008011853160800.htm