Tourism and Environment

US varsity develops software to tackle lion poaching

Published

2 years ago

August 12, 2022

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A top university in the United States of America is working on potentially ground-breaking software to fight help end the poaching of lions and trafficking of their body parts.

The University of Illinois says the software will track lion populations and trafficked lion products, based on mitochondrial DNA sequences, which has the potential to identify regions where poaching of the big cats.

VukaNow Activity, a USAid sponsored initiative to combat wildlife crime, in a statement to mark World Lion Day on August 10, said it was supporting the university’s efforts to develop the “Lion Localizer” given that Africa’s population is under threat.

Zimbabwe is one of the countries where lions are poached for their parts and skin.

“Africa’s lion population has almost halved in the past 25 years, due to threats such as illegal wildlife trade, bush meat poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, and human-lion conflict, this technology is a timely addition to the fight against this decline,” VukaNow Activity said.

Alfred Roca, a professor in the department of animal sciences at the University of Illinois, and is heading up the innovative project, said the software will help law enforcement agencies to tackle the poaching menace.

“Smuggled wildlife products may be moved far from their original geographic source, and may be consolidated or travel across various countries, before being confiscated by authorities in a transit or destination country,” Roca sai.

“With lions increasingly subject to poaching for their teeth, claws, and other bones, we wanted to develop software and databases to allow law enforcement and forensics laboratories the capacity to examine the geographic source of the lions using DNA.”

According to Wesley Au, a graduate student working on the project, the Lion Localizer is interactive software that utilises a database of mitochondrial DNA sequences obtained from published studies, in order to gain insight on the possible origins of confiscated lion body parts.

“A mitochondrial DNA sequence, which may easily be produced using DNA extracted from lion tissue samples, is used as a query for the software,” Au said.

“The software creates a list of all the locations in Africa from which lions have been reported to have a particular DNA sequence, and plots these locations on a map of Africa.

“This makes it possible to identify regions from which the lions could potentially have been poached.”

VukaNow Activity said the knowledge will assist in the on-going fight against wildlife crime, by suggesting that lions may be from a particular region in Africa, and by excluding the likelihood that the lions came from other regions.

“This will provide law enforcement with information helpful towards further investigation,” it added.

“The software can also provide insight into which lion populations have either been recently targeted, or are being repeatedly targeted, by poachers, allowing for mitigation measures to be implemented.

“Importantly, law enforcement forensics laboratories will be able to gather this information, using the Lion Localizer, without the need for species-specific expertise or a great investment in time and limited resources.”

Deborah Kahatano, the chief of party for USAID’s VukaNow Activity, said they were thrilled to have been able to support the development of such software through a grant, as it was closely aligned with the objectives of their initiative.

“The software will act as an essential addition to the tools we have available to combat wildlife crime in the region,”Kahatano said.

” In addition, it will support the Southern African Development Community in implementing its Law Enforcement and Anti-Poaching (LEAP) strategy, by furthering the LEAP objective of minimising wildlife crimes and illegal trade.”

VukaNow Activity said while the software currently uses information from a fragment of DNA, as additional DNA sequences and markers become available for lions, it should be possible to increase the accuracy and preciseness of the estimates of the geographic origin of lion products.

Roca also noted that going forward, the software and methods developed could potentially also be applied to other trafficked species for which geographically-referenced DNA sequences are available.

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Game ranger accused of killing lions, appears in court

Published

1 week ago

October 28, 2024

VicFallsLive

BY WANDILE TSHUMA

A Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Authority (ZIMPARKS) ranger appeared before Hwange Magistrates Court on Saturday, accused of killing three lions and removing their heads and paws.

Hali Mabuya, 39, and employee of the at Hwange National Park’s Mtshibi Camp, appeared before magistrate Fungai Dzimbiri facing charges of unlawful hunting and unlawful possession of ammunition without a firearm certificate.

The three lions, two females and one male, were found dead near the Dom Pan waterhole inside Hwange National Park on October 22.

The killing and dismembering of the animals is believed to have been carried out by more than one person, as tyre marks and footprints were observed at the scene.

ZIMPARKS had offered a $2000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.

Prosecutor Jemesina Makanza told the court that Mabuya was arrested after attempting to return a Point 458 rifle to the armoury, with requests to alter the dates of when he had signed for and returned the weapon.

The rifle has since been matched to the bullets that killed the lions.

Mabuya was remanded in custody to November 1, as the investigation continues.

VicFallsLive will continue to follow this story and provide updates as more information becomes available.

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$2K reward offered for info on lion poachers in Hwange National Park

Published

2 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

VicFallsLive

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has announced a $2000 reward for information leading to the arrest of suspected poachers who killed three lions in Hwange National Park.

The lions were found dead with their heads and legs chopped off.

“We are offering a reward of $2000 for any information that can lead to the arrest of suspects responsible for the poaching of three lions in Hwange National Park,” said Tinashe Farawo, ZimParks spokesperson.

The incident was discovered on early this week near Nyamandlovu pan, Hwange Main Camp.

According to ZimParks, the lions’ carcasses were found with bullet holes from a heavy calibre rifle and their heads and legs had been chopped off.

The authority is urging anyone with information to come forward and assist in the investigation.

“You may contact Tinashe Farawo on 0772433901 or tfarawo@zimparks.org.zw. All information will be treated with strict confidence,” said Farawo.

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Poachers kill three lions in Hwange National Park

Published

2 weeks ago

October 23, 2024

VicFallsLive

BY STAFF REPORTER

A suspected poaching incident has occurred in Hwange National Park, where three lions were found dead with their heads and legs chopped off.

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is investigating the killing of the lions at Nyamandlovu pan, Hwange Main Camp.

According to an internal memo, three carcasses were discovered on Tuesday with their heads and legs chopped off, and bullet holes from a heavy calibre rifle were found on the carcasses.

The incident is currently under investigation by the K9 section.

The Hwange National Park, home to over 60 000 elephants, 150 other mammal species, and 400 bird species, is a country’s crucial area for wildlife conservation.

Conservationists say the park’s lion population is already under threat, and this incident only adds to the concern.

The Hwange Lion Research Project, run by the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit of Oxford University, has been monitoring the lion population for 15 years.

The project focuses on understanding lion behavior, ecology, and demographics to inform conservation strategies. Additionally, the SATIB Conservation Trust supports the project through funding and material support.