An Australian DNA laboratory is helping international conservations to study the habits of Cambodian elephants.
Fauna & Flora International, the world's oldest conservation organisation, is using DNA fingerprinting to monitor elephant populations in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains with the help of Australian scientists.
Elephant dung is being collected by field biologists and trackers, and transported to DNA Solutions, a laboratory in suburban Melbourne, where the DNA will be extracted and analysed. Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains are blanketed by virtually undisturbed forest stretching over 10,000 square kilometres. Field biologists can spend weeks searching for elephants to record the vital data needed to properly monitor elephant populations. DNA analysis can yield this vital information much more quickly and efficiently.
Estimating the size of elephant populations in Cambodia is extremely difficult, due to their habits and the size of their habitat. They are also extremely secretive animals. Joe Heffernan, an elephant biologist with Fauna & Flora International, has been playing hide and seek with the largest of all land mammals for years.
"It's incredible how these immense creatures are like silent ghosts in dense forest," Heffernan said. "They can pass within metres and simply not be heard.
"This is the first time a closed population has been surveyed, so the results stand to be the most sophisticated ever recorded.
"In addition to the difficulties of observing elephants in the wild, their tracks and feeding signs can only reveal so much. DNA from their dung, however, can reveal the age, sex and health of the individual that produced it. Because each fingerprint is unique, the size of the population can be accurately estimated."
Vern Muir, director of DNA Solutions, said: "DNA Solutions is essentially a big team of biologists, so I can speak for everyone when I say we are all feeling proud to be able to help the cause of elephant conservation.
"It is extremely rewarding to be able to use genetic techniques that for so many years have been used to solve other people's paternity issues, for something that instead gives all of us greater personal satisfaction."
The information will be used to refine long-term elephant management strategies and identify future protected areas. The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) also plans to use the data to monitor illegal elephant killing and forecast trends.
Cambodia is critical to Asian elephant conservation, but work is hampered by the scarcity of field data. Fauna & Flora International is leading surveys of remote forest areas and working with the Cambodian Wildlife Protection Office and Ministry of the Environment to ensure that these elephant strongholds are protected.
Fauna & Flora International is also working with communities within the Cardamoms to understand their needs so that they do not harm elephants that stray close to their villages.
The first batch of samples will arrive in Melbourne next month, with initial data projected to be processed by November.
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Saturday, August 04, 2007
Dung DNA helping to unlock the secrets of the elephant
In Cambodia, Journalists Learn How to Report on Justice for Genocide
(August 3, 2007) As many as 1.7 million people are believed to have died of starvation, disease or execution during Cambodia’s notorious Khmer Rouge regime. As the long-awaited UN-backed tribunal prepares for the first trials, Internews is training Cambodian journalists to cover the process of bringing the surviving leaders of the 1975-79 regime to justice.
“The Cambodian press plays a crucual role in informing the public on the Khmer Rouge trials,” said French journalist Thierry Cruvellier, who has covered war crimes tribunals in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Colombia. “Cambodian citizens need access to accurate, informed reporting to be assured that victims of the Khmer Rouge are receiving some measure of justice.”
Led by Cruvellier, Internews Cambodia has begun a series of workshops on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) that has reached more than 160 newspaper and radio reporters, editors and news directors in Phnom Penh and the provinces. This is the first in-country, hands-on training for Cambodian journalists on covering this topic.
Training has provided Cambodian journalists with background on international criminal justice, a better understanding of the specific judicial process at the KRT, and basic training on how to report on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes trials at the pre-trial stage.
“I know the KRT law and its legal process better,” said a Pailin-based newspaper reporter, who recently published a KRT-related front page story. “I can improve my story ideas on KRT cases. I dare write any story about this court which in the past I dared not. Now I know its law, I am not intimidated by it. I just keep writing on it.”
The training has been received enthusiastically. One editor, whose reporters had never been trained in court procedures, reported that he had noticed an immediate improvement in trial stories.
Current workshops are focusing on procedures to be followed in pre-trial investigations culminating in trials expected to begin in mid 2008. They also discuss specific challenges for reporters covering war crimes trials, such as witness protection and presumption of innocence. The training will expand to help Cambodian journalists improve general coverage of police and court matters.
Cruvellier, editor of the online newspaper International Justice Tribunal, which covers war crimes justice news, joined Internews Cambodia as a consultant in April. Cambodian Senior Resident Journalism Adviser Mike Fowler, a lawyer with stateside experience as a prosecutor and defense attorney, will join Cruvellier and Phann Ana in preparing and presenting these workshops. The program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia.
Internews Cambodia is also planning to take weekly feeds of court action provided by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) public affairs office and produce high-quality video reports to bring news of the tribunal to remote parts of the country.
This effort will build on Internews’ experience in Rwanda, producing newsreel reports on justice processes for the Rwandan genocide, and airing these in prisons, community halls and churches around the country. No other organization has similar experience of such undertakings. Internews has also provided coverage of the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
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“The Cambodian press plays a crucual role in informing the public on the Khmer Rouge trials,” said French journalist Thierry Cruvellier, who has covered war crimes tribunals in Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Colombia. “Cambodian citizens need access to accurate, informed reporting to be assured that victims of the Khmer Rouge are receiving some measure of justice.”
Led by Cruvellier, Internews Cambodia has begun a series of workshops on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal (KRT) that has reached more than 160 newspaper and radio reporters, editors and news directors in Phnom Penh and the provinces. This is the first in-country, hands-on training for Cambodian journalists on covering this topic.
Training has provided Cambodian journalists with background on international criminal justice, a better understanding of the specific judicial process at the KRT, and basic training on how to report on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes trials at the pre-trial stage.
“I know the KRT law and its legal process better,” said a Pailin-based newspaper reporter, who recently published a KRT-related front page story. “I can improve my story ideas on KRT cases. I dare write any story about this court which in the past I dared not. Now I know its law, I am not intimidated by it. I just keep writing on it.”
The training has been received enthusiastically. One editor, whose reporters had never been trained in court procedures, reported that he had noticed an immediate improvement in trial stories.
Current workshops are focusing on procedures to be followed in pre-trial investigations culminating in trials expected to begin in mid 2008. They also discuss specific challenges for reporters covering war crimes trials, such as witness protection and presumption of innocence. The training will expand to help Cambodian journalists improve general coverage of police and court matters.
Cruvellier, editor of the online newspaper International Justice Tribunal, which covers war crimes justice news, joined Internews Cambodia as a consultant in April. Cambodian Senior Resident Journalism Adviser Mike Fowler, a lawyer with stateside experience as a prosecutor and defense attorney, will join Cruvellier and Phann Ana in preparing and presenting these workshops. The program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia.
Internews Cambodia is also planning to take weekly feeds of court action provided by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) public affairs office and produce high-quality video reports to bring news of the tribunal to remote parts of the country.
This effort will build on Internews’ experience in Rwanda, producing newsreel reports on justice processes for the Rwandan genocide, and airing these in prisons, community halls and churches around the country. No other organization has similar experience of such undertakings. Internews has also provided coverage of the United Nations war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
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