Genetic analysis of Assam rhino horn samples initiated
A specialised team has initiated the genetic analysis of samples collected from 2,573 rhino horns, most of which were destroyed by the Assam Forest Division four years ago.
The team, notified by the State's Chief Wildlife Warden, verified and segregated the stored samples at Kaziranga from July 3 to 8 and repackaged them in small vials to be transported to the genetic laboratory in Dehradun's Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for DNA analysis.
A total of 2,623 rhino horns stored in various treasuries in Assam were verified and reconciled for mass destruction. Barring those with some form of uniqueness and those implicated in court cases, 2,479 horns were consigned to the flames on September 22, 2021.
During the process of reconciliation according to a set protocol, tiny samples were retained from the horns to undertake genetic and chemical studies expected to aid better management of the current rhino population. Excluding 50 horns involved in legal battles, samples were collected from 2,573 horns.
'The entire technical process of repackaging was recorded and observed by independent experts,' a forest official said.
The WII's genetics laboratory is central to the RhoDIS (Rhino DNA Index System) India programme under the supervision of Samrat Mondol. This analysis aims to document the individual DNA profiles of the rhino horn and add them to the RhoDIS India DNA data library.
'Further analysis will help identify if any changes have taken place to the short tandem repeat (a specific type of DNA sequence) allele frequency over the years since the stocking of the horns from different parts of Assam,' the official said.
The protocol standardised for the RhoDIS India analysis, approved by the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, will be followed for creating the DNA profiles from these samples.
The RhoDIS India programme was started in 2016 as a collaboration among the Environment Ministry, the rhino-bearing States of India, the WII, and the World Wide Fund for Nature-India. The programme seeks to improve the crime investigations scientifically and provide technical support for the scientific management of India's rhino population.
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