Elephants with tuskless gene beat poachers

[Dover]

I think it's the poachers who need the genetic makeover.

Elephants with tuskless gene beat poachers
Agençe France-Presse
Monday, 18 July 2005

Evolutionary pressure may lead to more Asian elephants in China born with a gene that leaves them tuskless, and so less desirable for poachers (Image: iStockphoto)
More male Asian elephants will be born without tusks because poaching of tusked elephants is reducing the gene pool, Chinese researchers say.

Their study, conducted in the southwest province of Yunnan where two-thirds of China's Asian elephants live, found the tuskless phenomenon is spreading, according to a report in the China Daily.

The tusk-free gene, which is found in between 2 and 5% percent of male Asian elephants, has increased to between 5 and 10% in elephants in China, says zoology researcher Associate Professor Zhang Li, from Beijing Normal University.

"This decrease in the number of elephants born with tusks shows the poaching pressure for ivory on the animal," says Zhang, whose team has been studying elephants since 1999 at a reserve in Xishuangbanna.

Only male elephants have tusks, which are said to be a symbol of masculinity and a weapon to fight for territory...cont'd

http://abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1416333.htm

[Spinzonner]

1. Nah, it was God the Game Warden doing Intelligent Redesign