New Centre for Wildlife Forensics and K9 Unit's Goals Towards Global Fight Against Illegal Wildlife Trade

Ms Nadia Ahmad Samdin asked the Minister for National Development what short, medium and long-term goals will the new Centre for Wildlife Forensics and K9 Unit have in contributing towards the global fight against illegal wildlife trade.

NParks opened the Centre for Wildlife Forensics (CWF) and introduced its new K9 Unit on 27 August 2021, to strengthen Singapore’s capabilities and contributions to the global fight against illegal wildlife trade.

In the near term, NParks will continue to enhance the CWF’s capabilities in wildlife forensic science, by leveraging various technologies and building on its current library of reference samples. For example, NParks is working with Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and other research partners to explore the use of prototyping vision-based technologies to enable quicker identification of wildlife species such as sharks and rays and timber species. It is also developing advanced identification techniques using mass spectrometry and electronic smell sensors. This will increase the CWF’s proficiency in identifying various fauna and flora species over time.

NParks also plans to deepen its collaborations with other wildlife forensic laboratories and experts in the regional and international community, through research partnerships and studies. The CWF is currently collaborating with international experts on two genetic studies related to ivory and pangolin scale seizures, which will help determine the likely origins of the animals and how they are connected across seizures. The findings from these studies will be shared with the international community to strengthen cross-border enforcement efforts against criminal organisations and networks that trade in illegal wildlife.

In the medium term, NParks aims to register the CWF as a CITES Reference Laboratory, to offer its expertise in wildlife forensic science to aid other CITES member states in their investigation and prosecution of illegal wildlife trade cases. This will contribute to NParks’ longer-term goal for the CWF to become an international centre of excellence in wildlife forensic research and collaboration.

As for its new K9 Unit, NParks will deploy the sniffer dogs at the border checkpoints to detect illegal wildlife and wildlife products. The sniffer dogs will also undergo continuous training over time, to enable them to work in different situations, including the inspection of vehicles at our land checkpoints. This will increase Singapore’s overall deterrence against illegal wildlife trade through our borders.