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The tusk detective

Samuel Wasser is a conservation biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and an outspoken opponent of elephant poaching. He talks to Emma Marris about his genetic methods for tracing poached ivory.

Read the Q&A here.

Posted by Nicola Jones on July 5, 2007 05:43 PM |

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Sir,

Sam Wasser and his team have done a great job - and he's too modest about the impact of his work. My organisation, the Born Free Foundation, together with Born Free USA, sponsored Sam to attend the CITES conference in The Hague in June and he quite simply blew people away with his research and the potential it has for fighting organised crime. We're not just talking elephant ivory either, his DNA work has a much wider application. Those groups like Born Free who are out in the field, on the conservation frontline, need a toolchest to combat poaching. Sam's work is another invaluable tool to assist our efforts. But he's right - we need funding and support so anyone who wants to step up and make a difference let me know. In the global scheme of things when hundreds if not billions of dollars are spent on space shuttles, highway maintenance, or pet food, I can guarantee that we can make a demonstrable difference to elephant conservation for $1 million (that's $2 per living wild African elephant). Thanks for your consideration.

Will Travers CEO Born Free Foundation, President Born Free USA and President of the Species Survival Network

Posted by: Will Travers | July 6, 2007 09:09 AM

Wasser is right on the need to burn ivory stocks, and for money to
protect elephant. However, as villagers suffer from elephant
depredations we need to protect and succour and invest in them first.
This is the way forward. I work with villagers in 1 million acres of
elephant country in Zambia where three thousand villagers are
untouched by government services and where our elephant are being
slaughtered on a scale unprecedented. We need a trust fund in the US
in order to infuse money directly into the sick conservation body.
Forget the donors, who through convergent evolution have joined with
Government to produce a new species, the waPajero, who only make
matters worse.

Posted by: Ian Manning | July 6, 2007 09:58 AM

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