'Hands Off Our Elephants' Media Campaign is on

The media has launched an anti-poaching campaign dubbed “Hands off our Elephants” campaign with an objective of educating Kenyans and the world on the need to conserve the elephant for posterity. 

Kenya Defines Legal standards Forensic Evidence

Wildlife law enforcement officers for a long time have lost legal battles in court due insufficient evidence. Most cases regarding wildlife and wildlife products have been thrown out due the fact that the enforcement officers are not able to “proof beyond reasonable doubt” either the species or even link a wildlife product to a particular poaching incidence. Forensic evidence is an important tool in the adjudication of criminal evidence and DNA evidence is one of the most reliable forms of forensic evidence utilized in courts world over. Kenyan courts have stated that technology and science is often brutally accurate meaning that from the face value, the courts will accept the accuracy of forensic evidence unless there is doubt created by the defense. This technology will deter if not stop, wildlife crime.

Wildlife forensics in Kenya is a relatively new field of criminal investigation, its procedures examines, identifies, and compares evidence from wildlife crime scenes and links the evidence with a suspect. Illegal trade in wildlife products has become a serious menace and a major conservation challenge in Kenya today. Consequently, evidence must be reliable if the court is to be able to use it in reaching a just decision.

Legal minds, scientists, and law enforcement officers at a session.

For the first time Kenya has held a legal standards workshop that has brought together legal minds, scientists and law enforcement officers from different government agencies. The workshop was one of the four objectives of the Global Impact Award project funded by Google. This projects aims to construct a DNA Barcode reference library.  The DNA barcode library will be constructed using short gene sequences taken from standardized portions of the genome used to identify species. This library will be used by Forensic DNA barcoding labs as a reference while prosecuting wildlife crime offenders. 

Some of the factors contributing to illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products include poverty, human population increase and encroachment into wildlife areas, in effective legal deterrent measures, low input costs involved in the trade, and increasing antipathy towards wildlife land owners.

Due to the fact that wildlife crimes are strict liability crimes, the standard of proof is lowered compared to penal crimes because the prosecution does not have to prove the criminal intent of the accused person.In criminal cases the burden of proof for forensic evidence is the prosecution relying on the evidence meaning that all procedural aspects relating to that evidence must be followed to avoid any doubt being raised in the admissibility of that evidence.

Kenya Wildlife Service is establishing a wildlife forensic laboratory to be based at its headquarters in Nairobi. The establishment of the laboratory is critical to sustain convictions in courts of law and eventually deter wildlife crimes. This laboratory will utilize this barcoding library for identification of bush meat and wildlife products.

Dr. David Schindel (2nd L front row) the Executive Secretary of Consortium for the Barcode of Life Project join participants  from Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museums of Kenya, The Judiciary, and the Government Chemist for a group picture. With him are the Co-chairs of the Barcode of Wildlife Project in Kenya Dr. Beatrice Khayota (far L front row) Principal Research Scientist at National Museums of Kenya, and Mr. Patrick Omondi Deputy Director Kenya Wildlife Service. Far R front row is Dr Gila Kahila Bargal from Israel.

Legal Standards and Forensics Workshop

Kenya has held a Legal Standards and Forensics workshop aiming to police crimes against wildlife such as poaching.

The workshop also aims to get a better understanding of the scientific processes that wildlife species' samples have to go through in order to provide a validated outcome for illegal poaching cases in court.

Kenya has adopted a DNA technology capable of creating barcodes from genetic material for the identification of ivory and other wildlife products.

As Kenya Wildlife Service manages to apprehend hunters and other wildlife offenders, it is nearly impossible to obtain a conviction without irrefutable evidence.

Participants in this worthy workshop  include Kenya Wildlife Service, National Museums of Kenya, The Judiciary, the Government Chemist, Barcode of Life International, among others.

In picture: David Schindel from Smithsonian Institution, and the Executive Secretary of Consortium for the Barcode of Life Project makes a presentation to participants at the Barcode of Wildlife Project Legal standards workshop at Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute, Naivasha.

Poaching; the looming shadow

Meet a man who has dedicated his life for the love of animals. With over 2000kms of walk turked into his body muscles, wildlife will be save from thirsty poachers. In this photo Mr Jim Nyamu prepares to walk in Nairobi city along other Kenyans in a campaign "Ivory belongs to elephants campaign". 

Poaching in Kenya is going to be a shadow of the past with all these wonderful cohension from the government, stakeholders, wildlife lovers, and the world at large.

Jim is the director of a non governmental organisation Elephant Neighbours.In the meantime, plans are due to launch a world class forensic lab at Kenya Wildlife Service headquaters to oversee a collection of wildlife species DNA databank to protect wildlife species from exploitation. This information will also be used in Courts on wildlife crime matters and to trace the origin of trophies.

Tracing wildlife trophy origin using DNA

The University of  Washington Seattle has donated DNA vial  and reagents  for  forensic sample collection of recently  seized container full of ivory through the inter agency collaboration between the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Police and Kenya Revenue Authority at the Port of Mombas.

 

This DNA vial and reagents have been donated by Prof. Sam Wasser of the University of Washington Seattle who will help the KWS new Forensic and Genetics laboratory to analyze the samples and help identify their origin. Sam Wasser will be visiting KWS Forensic laboratory in November during which he will closely work in conjunction with KWS new laboratory and make recommendations on procedures, expansion and priorities.

 

Sam has also agreed on an exchange program project in which KWS laboratory personnel will visit the University of Washington and learn on techniques for extracting DNA from elephant ivory and how to determine the origin of a sample. This will be useful for the KWS technicians to have exposure to a stat

e-of-the-art laboratory. KWS international Liaison Bill Clark will also arrange for those technicians to receive some instruction from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service forensics lab in Ashland. 

The techniques learnt in these institutions will ensure the new KWS forensic and genetic laboratory is elevated to standards of conducting these procedures and become the focal point in Africa for elephant DNA analysis.

The idea of being able to distinguish species and identify specimens including incomplete, damaged or immature specimens using a very short gene sequence is one of the many initiatives dedicated to developing it as a global tool for species identification.

In picture: Above- DNA vial reagents been received by KWS-BOT member Patricia Awori, and Moses Yongo Otiende, KWS Molecular Biologist. Below- Moses Yongo Otiende receives other set of DNA vial reagents from Capt. Ibrahim Ogle, Assistant Director Special Projects KWS.