Uganda’s UN-backed wildlife forensics lab converts seized ivory into courtroom evidence

KUALA LUMPUR, 4 OCTOBER 2026 —

Entebbe forensic scientists helped turn a January 2025 seizure of 10 kg of thumb‑sized ivory fragments into a 15‑year prison sentence, underscoring the growing impact of Uganda’s UN‑backed wildlife‑forensics laboratory on wildlife‑crime prosecutions.

Two months later, police arrested the sender, recovered additional elephant and warthog ivory at his home and charged him with attempted trafficking and illegal possession. The court sentenced the offender to 15 years in prison or a fine of 140 million Ugandan shillings – more than US$35,000.

Chiyo said the conviction demonstrates why forensic evidence matters in the fight against wildlife crime: “Poachers are removing identification features from wildlife carcasses to evade detection.” He added that DNA reports are increasingly required by Uganda’s wildlife court and that suspects are pleading guilty more often thanks to the lab’s work.

Uganda has emerged as a significant hub for organised wildlife‑trafficking networks, especially for elephant ivory and pangolin scales, according to the UN’s 2024 World Wildlife Report. The Entebbe laboratory, opened in April with support from Denmark, the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), builds on a pilot facility established in 2019 through a partnership that also involved the TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network.

The earlier centre has assisted hundreds of investigations and prosecutions linked to illegal wildlife trade.

The laboratory’s workflow often begins far from Entebbe. Officers may seize sacks of ivory fragments, pangolin scales or smoked bushmeat, then collect samples at police stations, photographing the evidence before and after sampling. The original exhibit is returned to police custody while sealed samples travel to the lab for analysis. Chiyo said the process can be time‑consuming, but it can be decisive when animal remains are incomplete, altered or otherwise difficult to identify.

A 2023 investigation highlighted the lab’s role. After a suspect was arrested north of Kampala with six skins, six heads, two sacks of meat, 24 hoofed legs and a fetus believed to be wildlife‑derived, the skins appeared to be antelope but could not be identified visually. Chiyo’s team collected samples and, through DNA analysis, determined the material came from bushbucks. Chiyo later testified in court and the suspect received a three‑year prison term.

The lab most commonly receives evidence involving elephant ivory, bushmeat and pangolin scales, Chiyo said.

Bashir Hangi of the Uganda Wildlife Authority told UN News that elephants, pangolins, primates and certain bird species are among the animals most threatened by illegal poaching and trade in Uganda. While some hunting is for household consumption, Hangi noted that commercial trade poses the larger threat to wildlife conservation.

Chiyo said Uganda does not have a domestic market for ivory or pangolin scales, but a thriving market exists for poached bushmeat, with authorities encountering cases involving nearly a tonne of meat.

Wildlife crime, according to Hangi, is driven both by organised criminal networks and by local communities facing economic hardship. The impacts extend to communities near protected areas, where wildlife‑related conflict and crop raiding have caused significant problems. Chiyo argued that enforcement must reach both the individuals who kill or capture animals and the higher‑up actors who profit from the trade. Prosecuting senior figures, he said, requires greater investment in inter‑agency networks.

At the same time, Chiyo cautioned that criminal justice alone is insufficient. He advocated a combined approach of livelihood support, preventive patrols and legal deterrence, noting that “a living wildlife is worth more benefits for many more people than a dead one.” While alternative livelihoods may not eliminate poaching linked to cultural values, they can reduce the economic incentive to kill wildlife.

In April, the Entebbe lab expanded its remit to include timber forensics, reflecting Uganda’s broader environmental challenges. Authorities say forest cover has fallen from 24 percent in 1990 to roughly 13 percent in 2025, largely due to illegal logging and timber trafficking. Determining whether a piece of wood was obtained illegally is more complex than identifying animal products because harvesting can be permitted and regulated.

Chiyo said the lab has not yet seen evidence that illegal timber moves through the same networks or routes as wildlife products, but the new capability is intended to strengthen investigations of illegal logging.

Gladys Kamasanyu, chief magistrate of the Uganda Wildlife Court, told UNODC in April that the forensic laboratory is “critical to the criminal justice system, significantly enhancing the court’s ability to hold offenders accountable by providing objective, scientifically validated evidence to protect Uganda’s natural heritage for future generations.” Chiyo echoed this sentiment, saying his benchmark for success in the next few years is “a sustainable and fully government‑supported wildlife and timber forensic laboratory in Uganda.”

Each confirmed DNA sequence and seizure at the current lab helps bridge the gap between suspicion of trafficking and a prosecutable crime. “Enhancing criminal justice through wildlife and timber forensics is an important pillar in environment protection,” Chiyo said. “Environmental justice will usually benefit the very vulnerable in society.”