Dung tests aim to fix Cambodia elephant numbers

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

PHNOM PENH (AFP) — Hundreds of samples of elephant dung collected in Cambodia will be sent to Australia to help determine how many of the animals are left in the wild here, conservationists said Wednesday.

Cambodia's agriculture ministry has greenlighted plans to run DNA tests on 520 dung samples collected in the country's southwest Cardamom Mountains.

It will allow scientists to determine how many of them still remain in the area, which is largely untouched by development, said Tuy Sereivathana of Flora and Fauna International.

"DNA analysis will allow us to know the number of elephants and how large a habitat needed to accommodate the population," Tuy Sereivathana said.

DNA analysis can reveal the age, sex and health of the individual elephants,...