The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI) in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh is going to set up a DNA bank for wildlife, first of its kind in North India.
Researchers at the institute are in the process of collecting the DNA of all wild animals. They have up until now collected samples of around 140 species.
Though the bank, the scientists at IVRI’s Centre for Wildlife will be able to tell the name and schedule of the species by studying just a part of the meat, hair, blood, skin or bone of any animal.
The centre would also be collecting serum of animals.
The move is expected to assist in research and help bring down poaching and smuggling of wildlife.
The bank would be only next to Hyderabad’s Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), which is currently the only such facility in India.
The bank is expected to be fully functional at the end of 2017. The Veterinary Research Institute took almost a year to collect the DNA samples of big animals like tigers, lions, elephants, rhinos, deer and leopards, which are most susceptible to illegal acclivity.
