DNA detectives help Customs protect borders

Murdoch University’s DNA detectives are helping Customs protect Australia's borders and keep illegal imports out.

Their wildlife DNA laboratory could be mistaken for a scene on a Spielberg movie set.

Komodo dragon skins, seal genitals, snake bile, freshwater crocodile antidotes, alligator heads, ivory carvings and ostrich foot ashtrays are but a few of the exotic and illegal imports adorning the laboratory’s shelves.

The artefacts and banned traditional Asian medicines are among the tens of thousands of dollars of animal contraband to be found at the laboratory which has a major role in exposing and deterring fraud, illegal animal trading and artefact smuggling.

Headed by forensic geneticist Dr Peter Spencer, the laboratory provides DNA testing to verify the authenticity of a product and discern if it is illegal.

Dr Spencer said the products had been seized at the airport by customs and quarantine officers on behalf of the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

He said DNA testing provided irrefutable evidence on whether the substance was among those banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Dr Spencer said an example of its use was to determine if carved ivory was from elephants which had been banned, or if it was an imitation such as zebu cattle, hippo horn or even extinct mammoth recovered from the melting Siberian tundra.

“DNA testing is an important precautionary tool because smugglers are becoming increasingly aware their product will be subjected to it,” he said.

“While people may argue that something is only fake, they cannot refute the DNA finding.”

TRACING FERAL CATS

Dr Spencer is also working in conjunction with a US laboratory to develop a DNA profile for Savannah cats which are banned in Australia.

The Savannah breed can only be distinguished from other large domestic cats through DNA analysis.

Otherwise dubbed “killer cats”, the Savannah potentially poses a major environmental threat if it becomes feral and or interbreeds with domestic cats.

Dr Spencer said having the ability to detect Savannah cats would prove a critical tool for assisting Australian authorities in their bid to keep them out of the country.

Those in favour of supporting the cats, which currently have a market value of $4000, argued they wouldn’t allow such a valuable animal to get loose.

“But the risks of introducing cats like this, which are potentially deadly to our wildlife, are too great,” Dr Spencer said.

“These cats are able to interbreed with domestic or feral cats thereby posing a real risk of creating a population of large cats with superior hunting abilities in our environment.”

Dr Spencer is also heading up a major project to generate DNA profiles on feral cats which has seen him test thousands of wild cats to provide crucial answers for this major conservation issue in Australia and around the world.

“My passion is to understand where cats came from and how we can use this information to control them and prevent damage to our environment and wildlife,” Dr Spencer said.

“The aim is identify patterns to help conservation authorities control the cats - it’s a major conservation initiative being run from Murdoch.”