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Online selling of wildlife part with spurious name: a serious challenge for wildlife crime enforcement

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Abstract

We examined an online sold product “Hatha Jodi” synonym of “paired arm” for the confirmation of its biological source. It was declared as a plant root. The morphological features of these samples were matched with the “intromittent organs” or “hemi penis” of the monitor lizard. For further confirmation, we used sequencing of a partial fragment of mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene. Sequence comparison indicated that these claimed plant products were actually biological samples of a common monitor lizard, Varanus bengalensis. Hence, it exhibited the ongoing illegal trade of the intromittent organ of a prohibited species with a misleading name using low risk and widely adopted modern trading method that imposes a severe challenge for combating against the wildlife crime.

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Acknowledgments

The support provided by Dr. V. B. Mathur, Director; Dr. G. S. Rawat, Dean; and Dr. Y. V. Jhala, Nodal Officer, Forensic Lab, WII, are acknowledged. The authors thank Shri. R.S. Sarath, Inspector, WCCB, for his assistance in this study. The forest departments and enforcement agencies are acknowledged for sending the biological samples for forensic opinion.

Funding

This study was funded by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

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Author notes

  1. Vipin & Vinita Sharma

    Present address: Department of Animal Sciences and Wildlife, Central University of Jammu, Samba, Jammu and Kashmir, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Forensic and Conservation Genetics Cell, Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, 248001, India

    Chandra Prakash Sharma, Ajit Kumar,  Vipin, Vinita Sharma, Bhim Singh, Gandla Chethan Kumar & Sandeep Kumar Gupta

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  1. Chandra Prakash Sharma
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  2. Ajit Kumar
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  7. Sandeep Kumar Gupta
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Correspondence to Sandeep Kumar Gupta.

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The authors declare that there have no competing interests.

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Sharma, C.P., Kumar, A., Vipin et al. Online selling of wildlife part with spurious name: a serious challenge for wildlife crime enforcement. Int J Legal Med 133, 65–69 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-018-1795-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-018-1795-7

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