Adaptation in action...if ever there was proof of how species can
rapidly evolve in response to challenges, WITHOUT the intervention of
an "intelligent designer", and without any specific intent...

--

Poaching leads to more tuskless elephants
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,38...103681,00.html
Ian Sample, science correspondent
Monday July 18, 2005

Guardian
Intense poaching by ivory hunters has caused a dramatic shift in the
gene pool of Asian elephants, leading to a steep rise in tuskless
herds.

Asian elephants are under more intense pressure from ivory hunters
than their larger African cousins. There are believed to be no more
than 50,000 spread across the Indian subcontinent and Indochina,
around 10% of the number found in Africa.

Male elephants usually grow tusks, but typically around 2%-5% have a
genetic quirk that means they remain tuskless. By killing elephants
for their ivory, poachers make it more likely that tuskless elephants
will mate and pass on the quirk to the next generation.

Zhang Li, a zoologist at Beijing Normal University and a member of the
World Conservation Union's Asian elephant specialist group, studied
herds in China and found that up to 10% were tuskless.

"The larger the tusks the male elephant has, the more likely it will
be shot by poachers," he told the China Daily newspaper. "Therefore
the ones without tusks survive, preserving the tuskless gene in the
species."

The illegal trade in ivory has also skewed the sex ratio of the
elephants in China, with females now outnumbering the males by four to
one.

Some African countries have shown that increased policing of national
parks and tighter controls on ivory can reverse the decline in
numbers, but poachers are devising new strategies to evade officials.
Instead of using guns, which attract rangers, many have switched to
crossbows and target soft areas on the elephants, such as their
mouths.

"It can be a slow and painful death over a few days and the poachers
will follow the elephant until it dies and then cut the tusks out,"
David Cowdrey, WWF's wildlife trade campaign director, said.

He added: "As long as people are willing to pay high prices for
products which come from endangered species, they're going to have a
price tag on them and that fuels the poaching. Unfortunately, it comes
down to the markets, which are in the west."

Last November, police raids in London and Gloucester seized some 80kg
(176lb) of ivory and 141 ivory products.

Later this week, British legislation will be amended to make the
buying and selling of products from endangered species an arrestable
offence.
Guardian Unlimited (c) Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005