Pirates` clipped wings
DNA fingerprinting will now turn the screws on illegal trade in birds in the uk. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British police have joined hands to bring the technique to British courts. The specialists attempt to foil bird breeders who steal eggs from the nests of protected birds of prey in the country's wild.
The technique will enable the courts to determine whether fledglings of registered captive birds of prey are really related to their parents, or have been stolen from nests in the wild and passed off as birds bred in captivity. In the latest case, the claims of 2 breeders will be challenged by dna fingerpinting to demonstrate that, of over 30 peregrine falcons they claim to have bred, over 20 birds are unrelated to their so-called parents.