Wildlife forensic DNA and lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) poaching

DNA molecular analyses were used in a forensic investigation involving illegal wildlife poachingin central Brazil. The Brazilian environmental agency (IBAMA) sent us two samples of confiscatedmeat from illegal poachingfor species and individual identification. Comparative analysis of cytochrome bsequences (1,070 bp) provided incontestable evidence that the meat samples were from the lowland tapir, Tapirus terrestris. The analysis of nine microsatellites indicated that the two seizedmeat samples shared the same genotypes, implying that meat from only one individual was present. The lowland tapiris the last representative of mega-mammals in South America and is a vulnerable species, locally extinctin several regions. The present paper reports a successful genetic investigation of an illegal hunting crime, in which DNA-based molecular analyses of seizedground meat samples were the only tool able to identify the species and individual, proving to be highly useful for wildlife crime investigations.