A UN-backed wildlife forensics laboratory in Uganda is turning ivory confiscation into punishment

When detectives from the Uganda Police Force and investigators from the Uganda Wildlife Authority intercepted the package in January 2025, they needed more than just suspicion to investigate the person who sent the package.

Police sent the samples to the Uganda Forensics and Timber Laboratory in Entebbe, a facility that has been supported since 2019 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Scientists discovered a distinctive crosshatch pattern associated with elephant tusks. DNA tests later confirmed the material came from an elephant, said lab manager Patrick Chiyo UN News.

Two months later, the police arrested the man who sent the package. At his residence, investigators found additional elephant tusks, as well as wild boar tusks. He was charged with attempted human trafficking and illegal possession and sentenced to 15 years in prison or a fine equivalent to 140 million Ugandan shillings – or more than $35,000 USD.

For Chiyo, this case illustrates why forensic evidence is important in combating wildlife crime: forensic evidence can determine what an animal product is when smugglers cut it into small pieces or remove physical characteristics that make identification easier.

“Poachers remove identifying features from wildlife carcasses to avoid detection,” Chiyo said.

He added that DNA reports are increasingly required by Uganda’s wildlife courts and suspects are increasingly pleading guilty thanks to the lab.

From confiscation to science

Evidence from the UN in 2024 World Wildlife Report shows that Uganda is an important center for organized wildlife trafficking networks – especially elephant ivory and pangolins, the scaly anteater.

In April, the Uganda Wildlife Forensics and Timber Laboratory opened with support from Denmark, the European Union and UNODC to help tackle the ivory problem.

The project builds on a national training and technical support center established in 2019 as a pilot wildlife forensics facility through a partnership involving UNODC, the TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network and the Government of Uganda. The facility has previously assisted hundreds of investigations and prosecutions related to the illegal wildlife trade.

Laboratory work often begins far from Entebbe. Officers may confiscate sacks containing pieces of ivory, pangolin scales or smoked wild animal meat. Because these seizures can be so large, scientists collect samples at police stations, documenting every step taken.

Evidence is photographed before opening, and photographed again after sampling. The original evidence was returned to police custody, while the sealed samples were taken to the laboratory for analysis.

The process can take a lot of time, Mr. Chiyo, however, can be very decisive, especially when animal remains are incomplete, altered, or difficult to identify.

In one case in 2023, Chiyo traveled about four hours north of Kampala after a suspect was caught with six skins, six heads, two sacks of meat, 24 hoofed legs and one fetus believed to be from wildlife. The skin appears to be from an antelope, but its exact identity cannot be ascertained from appearance alone.

Mr Chiyo and his team collected samples from the skin and fetus, then used DNA analysis to determine that the samples came from the bush. Mr. Chiyo later testified in court, and the suspect was sentenced to three years in prison.

Targeting crimes against wildlife

The lab most frequently receives evidence involving elephant ivory, bushmeat and pangolin scales, Mr. Chiyo.

Bashir Hangi, from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said UN News that elephants, pangolins, primates and several bird species are among the animals most threatened by poaching and illegal trade in Uganda.

Some people hunt animals for domestic consumption, while others kill wildlife for commercial gain, Chiyo said. Commercial trade is the biggest threat to wildlife conservation, he added.

Although Chiyo says Uganda has no domestic market for pangolin ivory and scales, there is a thriving market for boiled bushmeat. Authorities have uncovered cases involving nearly a ton of meat, he said.

Hangi said wildlife crime was driven by organized criminal networks and local communities facing economic hardship.

The impacts can also be felt most acutely by communities living near protected areas, where wildlife-related conflicts and crop looting have caused significant problems.

Chiyo said law enforcement must reach out to the people who kill or capture an animal and those at the top levels of criminal networks who also profit. Prosecuting the top brass requires more investment in interagency networks, he added.

At the same time, he said, criminal justice alone is not enough. Alternative livelihoods are important, although they cannot eliminate poaching linked to cultural values. He suggested a combined approach of livelihood support, preventive patrols and legal prevention.

“Live wildlife has greater benefits for more people than dead wildlife,” Chiyo said.

New focus on wood

The Entebbe Laboratory expanded its wood forensics field in April, adding new capabilities as Uganda confronts the environmental consequences of illegal logging and the timber trade.

According to Ugandan authorities, Uganda’s forest cover has declined from 24 percent in 1990 to about 13 percent in 2025, largely due to the timber trade. The new forensic capacity is intended to strengthen illegal logging investigation efforts.

Timber cases are more complicated than wildlife cases, Mr. Chiyo, because logging is also permitted and regulated in many circumstances. Determining whether a piece of wood was obtained illegally requires additional steps and presents different challenges than identifying animal products.

The lab has only just begun handling timber cases and has not seen evidence that illegal timber moves through the same networks or routes as wildlife products, he said.

Important for conservation

But the lab’s expansion reflects growing recognition of the role of crackdowns on wildlife and the timber trade in protecting the environment.

Gladys Kamasanyu, chief judge of the Uganda Wildlife Court, told UNODC in April that criminal justice and law enforcement can play an important role in this effort.

“The forensic laboratory is critical to the criminal justice system, significantly enhancing the ability of courts to hold perpetrators accountable by providing objective, scientifically validated evidence to protect Uganda’s natural heritage for future generations,” said Ms Kamasanyu.

Recognizing the shared relationship between law enforcement and conservation, Chiyo said his benchmark for success in the next few years will be “a sustainable and fully government-supported wildlife and timber forensics laboratory in Uganda.”

However, in today’s laboratories, each confirmed DNA sequence and seizure can help close the gap between suspected human trafficking and a prosecutable crime.

“Improving criminal justice through wildlife and timber forensics is an important pillar in environmental protection,” said Chiyo. “Environmental justice will typically benefit the most vulnerable groups in society.”