Preprint Article Version 1 Preserved in Portico This version is not peer-reviewed

Determining the Provenance of Traded Wildlife in the Philippines

Kate J. Brandis
* ORCID logo ,
Phoebe Meagher
,
Sabine Schoppe
,
Kyle Zawada
,
Indira Widmann
,
Peter Widmann
,
Roger Dolorosa
,
Roxane Francis
ORCID logo
Version 1 : Received: 16 June 2023 / Approved: 16 June 2023 / Online: 16 June 2023 (09:45:50 CEST)

A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.

Brandis, K.J.; Meagher, P.; Schoppe, S.; Zawada, K.; Widmann, I.; Widmann, P.; Dolorosa, R.G.; Francis, R. Determining the Provenance of Traded Wildlife in the Philippines. Animals 2023, 13, 2165. Brandis, K.J.; Meagher, P.; Schoppe, S.; Zawada, K.; Widmann, I.; Widmann, P.; Dolorosa, R.G.; Francis, R. Determining the Provenance of Traded Wildlife in the Philippines. Animals 2023, 13, 2165.

Abstract

The illegal wildlife trade is a significant threat to global biodiversity, often targeting already threatened species. In combating the trade, it is critical to know the provenance of the traded animal or part, to facilitate targeted conservation actions, such as education and enforcement. Here we present and compare two methods, portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and stable isotope analysis (SIA), to determine both the geographic and source provenance (captive or wild) of traded animals and their parts. Using three critically endangered, frequently illegally traded Philippine species, the Palawan forest turtle (Siebenrockiella leytensis), the Philippine cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), and the Philippine pangolin (Manis culionensisis) we demonstrate that using these methods we can more accurately assign provenance using pXRF data (x ̅ = 83%), than SIA data (x ̅ = 47%). Our results indicate that these methods provide a valuable forensic tool that can be used in combating the illegal wildlife trade.

Keywords

stable isotopes; illegal wildlife trade; provenance; pXRF; elemental signatures

Subject

Environmental and Earth Sciences, Ecology

Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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