| Natural Research has partnered with the UK government agency DEFRA (Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs) and with WDNAS (Wildlife DNA Services) to help create a forensic enforcement tool for combating wildlife crime against raptors. We are sharing genetic data collected by the Scottish Raptor Study Groups as part of our golden eagle and goshawk studies, to contribute to a national database for the forensic identification of individual birds. The DNA profiling system will enable the wildlife authorities to calculate profile-match probabilities which will help to determine whether an individual bird has been legally bred in captivity or whether it has been illegally removed from the wild.
 In parallel to this project, we are also collaborating with a PhD student at WDNAS to help develop a forensic technique to study the effect of measures of population subdivision on DNA profile statistics. Our golden eagle and goshawk molecular data will contribute to a profiling system that aims to determine regional genetic signatures from around the UK. This involves assessing allele frequency data from various regions to evaluate population structure, which can be used as evidence to support the provenance of a suspected wild bird held illegally in captivity.
For further information please contact Ruth Tingay: ruth.tingay@natural-research.org
Photos: Copyright M.McGrady
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