Fears have been raised over the long term viability of Kenyas proposed wildlife forensic lab. The lab which is in the process of being completed, desperately needs international funding to make the most of its services. Currently there is little resource funding available to manage the huge volume of cases, and as future funding will be based on the centres ability to successfully prosecute, a Catch 22 situation is potentially unfolding. It is hoped that funding can and will be made available to make use of the new facility and develop it. Let us hope that a farcical situation such as that in England, does not materialise. The TRACE facility in the UK has been at the forefront of Interpol, TRAFFIC and domestic police prosecutions in wildlife cases and general criminal cases where animals have been involved (even down to the criminal simply owning a pet), as well as being involved in the creation of DNA databases of species such as rhino, developed in conjunction with Pretoria University. The costs of using the service are enormous however. This has led to the situation where TRACE is used by Scottish police, the Scottish govt. underwriting the cost, yet cases across the border in England, often do not proceed as the cost has to be borne by forces there as the govt. does not fund the service in England! This wildlife forensic service is a valuable tool, but only if we treat it with the respect it deserves
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 14:16:17 +0000
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