Wildlife Forensics: CITES, Species ID by mtDNA, Ivory and Rhino-Horn Casework (UGC-NET Unit III)

Advanced UGC-NET Forensic Science Unit III drill on wildlife forensics: international and Indian legal architecture (CITES 1973 Appendix I, II, III rules with India a Party since 1976; Convention on Biological Diversity 1992; Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 Schedules, Section 51 penalty band, 2022 amendment), molecular species identification (cytochrome b cyt-b at about 700 bp with universal primers, 12S and 16S rRNA for degraded matrices, cytochrome oxidase I COI for the Barcode of Life Data System BOLD), ivory forensics (Schreger line angle discrimination between elephant and mammoth, stable isotope ratios for geographic source, DNA-based species and population attribution after Wasser et al.), rhino horn and pangolin scale work (keratin not ivory, mtDNA species ID across one-horned and African rhinos and across the eight pangolin species), snake venom typing (antiserum cross-reactivity limits and LC-MS bottom-up proteomics), and Indian institutional capacity (Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun, LaCONES Hyderabad, WCCB chain-of-custody). Hard-band scenario questions test which Schedule, marker, isotope panel or institutional pathway applies in a real seizure or trial.