Forensics and future conservation: LaCONES, Hyderabad
Poaching is the biggest threat to tiger conservation in India. Confiscated tiger parts and blood samples taken from crime sites give clues about the identity and location of poached tigers as well as the humans involved in their murder. Scientists at India’s top wildlife forensics laboratory, Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) in Hyderabad, India, are on the frontline of solving these crimes. The lab also continues to pioneer conservation biology research in disease diagnosis, cryo-preservation, DNA banking and captive breeding programs. During my stay in Hyderabad in March 2015, I interviewed some of the scientists working in these areas.
Dr. Anuradha Reddy is a forensic scientist with the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) at LaCONES. A veterinarian by training, she has been working on the conservation of various wildlife species for the last 15 years. Her early research focused on the assisted reproduction of animals and birds and artificial insemination of species such as black buck, spotted deer and vultures, and in the last five years she has worked on population genetics of the tiger and DNA-based forensics related to tiger poaching cases. In this capacity she analyzes tissue, bone, fur, blood and other parts collected from tigers and also humans in wildlife crimes as well as human-animal conflict cases, including those involving man-eating tigers. Reddy has helped solve numerous tiger poaching crimes; her efforts have resulted in the imprisonment of poachers. In one case she successfully identified suspects by analyzing and matching DNA collected from their fingernail clippings to that of the tiger samples. Reddy said that her and other forensic researchers' expertise makes a critical difference to tiger conservation, and that more scientists are needed to help solve poaching crimes.
Dr. Sandeep Goel is a principal scientist at LaCONES with expertise in biotechnology and reproductive biology. He works on conservation biology by preserving germ tissues and the cells of threatened and endangered species, including tigers. He and his team of biologists collect the organs, ovaries, testes and gonadal tissue primarily from young animals that may have died in a national park or zoo, and then freeze these tissues in liquid nitrogen for future use to produce an embryo; the cells could also be used to produce live offspring by cloning. Goel said that little information is available about tiger reproduction, and that LaCONES is taking this as an important challenge to understand large cat reproduction, such as how to produce a tiger by artificial insemination, and the best ways to cryo-preserve the semen, sperm and oocytes of tigers and other species for the genetic health of future generations.
Other scientists interviewed at LaCONES include senior principal scientist Karthikeyan Vasudevan, and Dr. Navin Kumar, chief veterinary consultant to the Nehru Zoological Park in association with LaCONES.
