DNA profi��ling may be acontentious issue amonghumans, but for Kerala’scaptive elephants, it’s adone deal. In a fi��rst forIndia, every one of Kerala’scaptive elephants now has aunique DNA-based geneticID. M. Radhakrishna Pillai,Director, Rajiv GandhiCentre for Biotechnology(RGCB), which was given thetask of DNA fi��ngerprintingthe elephants, handed overthe DNA database,prototypes of UniqueIdentifi��cation Cards, and astudy report to the ForestDepartment’s Chief WildlifeWarden P.C. Kesavan onTuesday.

Captive elephants arethose that have beencaptured from the wild and

used by humans. The ForestDepartment providedblood samples ofcaptive elephantsfrom across theState to the RGCBfor DNAfi��ngerprinting.The method is aforensic techniquethat makes itpossible to identifyindividuals — peopleor animals — basedon unique DNAcharacteristics calledmicro-satellites (DNAportions that occurrepeatedly), much likefi��ngerprints.

To conduct DNAfi��ngerprinting, the RGCB’steams at the RegionalFacility for DNAFingerprinting (RFDF) inThiruvananthapuram fi��rst

removed duplicate samplesafter cross-verifi��cation andthen isolated DNA from thesamples. After tests, 11micro-satellite markers(which help isolate specifi��cmicro-satellites) and one sex

marker (for gender ID) wereselected, said E.V. Soniya,head of the DNA

Fingerprinting Unit at theRGCB. The databasecovers all 519 captiveelephants. “Thisdatabase is nowaccessible to theForest Department,”she said. The RGCB

also developed aprotocol to DNA

fi��ngerprint elephantsusing dung and tusk

samples, which could helpsolve wildlife crimes,including poaching andillegal trade.

Unlike the microchip-based ID used so far, DNAfi��ngerprinting provides aunique identity and is morefool-proof, said AdditionalPrincipal Chief Conservatorof Forests Padma Mahanti.

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Kerala’s captive jumbos get genetic IDs

Aathira PerincheryThiruvananthapuram

Move could help solve wildlife crime cases involving poaching and illegal trade

ILLUSTRATION: DEEPAK HARICHANDAN