Rhino DNA database helps South African police hunt down and prosecute poachers

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The database, called the Rhino DNA Index System (RhODIS), has already been used in more than 5,800 forensic cases. The system has successfully made links between recovered horns, blood-stained evidence items, and specific rhinoceros carcasses in more than 120 cases. 'RhODIS provides individual matches that, similar to human DNA profiling, is used as direct evidence in criminal court cases,' said Dr. Harper, Director of the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of Pretoria. Black rhinos are considered an endangered species and white rhinos are 'near threatened', according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Rhino poaching has undergone a surge in popularity in recent years and the database is the latest tool in the fight against poachers. In South Africa, rhinoceros poaching incidents increased from 13 in 2007 to 1,215 in 2014. Rhinos are killed for their horns, which are sought after for medicinal purposes and, increasingly, as cultural status symbols.