Wildlife Research & Training Centre (WRTC), Gorewada
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A backgrounder
As of 2025
Abhishek Choudhari, May 5, 2025: The Times of India
Remember the crime show CSI-Miami, where hightech forensics helped zero in on criminals in crosscultural Florida? A similar state-owned lab — but for wildlife — is nestled in a wooded area on Nagpur’s outskirts, 300km off the sprawling Dandakaranya forests. From analysing samples scraped from a poacher’s fingernails and identifying animal species from a faint dried blood sample on a hunter’s bicycle to sending sleuths on a winding trafficking trail to the Mizoram-Myanmar border, the lab at WRTC (Wildlife Research & Training Centre), Gorewada, is cracking wildlife crimes from the grisly to the mysterious. The team specialises in DNA extraction from samples that are highly deteriorated — a process for which they are contemplating a patent filing.
On a balmy summer morning last year in the neighbouring Bhandara district, a team of forest officials was tracking down a suspected poacher in a remote hamlet. During search operations, all the team could find was a faint coagulated blood stain on the suspect’s bicycle. At that point, no one knew that this roughly 1cm dark maroon speck would unearth an international poaching ring.
The bicycle was wrapped up and transported 50km to the Nagpur lab, where the veterinarians got cracking on that tiny sample. S Bhagwat, project in-charge of WRTC Gorewada, said, “The team was able to extract DNA from the blood, which belonged to a tiger.” This evidence strengthened the prosecution’s case and links to the international poaching chain started to appear. But some poachers are smart — or at least that’s what they would like to believe. They may dispose of clothes, bags and sheets used during their murderous act and pass on animal remains to associates who handle transportation. For one such case, the forest team was asked to cut the fingernails of the suspect.
Dr Sujit Kolangath, biotechnology specialist at the lab, said, “When poachers skin, say, the big cats, their fingernails trap micro-level residue from the animal’s body. We were able to extract DNA from those samples and determine that the suspect had handled tiger skin.”
WRTC Gorewada was conceptualised in 2015 following an MoU between Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University (MAFSU) and the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM). But it was only after 2018 that the WRTC lab began to take shape. With Nagpur and its surrounding districts home to over 300 tigers, poaching gangs with global links abound in the rea. WRTC’s lab is now using science to ‘hunt’ down these poachers even 2,500 miles away to the notorious Myanmarese town of Mong La in the Golden Triangle at the borders of China, Laos and Thailand — the epicentre of the world’s illegal wildlife trade.
But solving wildlife crime and building a unique wildlife database is not the only preoccupation of the experts at the lab. Just like a Manmohan Desai lost-and-found movie, these lab experts are currently on a mission to reunite a four-month-old tiger cub with its mother.
The cub, currently at the research centre, was abandoned by the mother almost two months ago. The most probable theory is that a male tiger moved into their territory. The cub’s three siblings could not survive malnutrition, but this one has fought all odds to defy death and bounce back after being rescued. Maybe he survived for a reason, to be one day reunited with his mother. Kolangath said, “The mother has not been traced yet. We’re extracting DNA from faeces samples of big cats from nearby jungles. We are confident that one day the mother and cub will be together.” If that happens, Bollywood might just have its next blockbuster lost-and-found plot.
Handling around 60 samples a month, including their regular rescue tests, the lab even provides its services to other states. Before the lab, the challenge for forest officials seeking to build up a case against poachers was ‘timing’. Lab director Dr Shirish Upadhye, who is the brains behind the project, said, “Earlier, samples had to be sent to Hyderabad or other places and results, in some cases, took as long as two years, which meant court cases continued without key evidence. Now, with automation and streamlined operations, most reports are ready within 48 hours, some in just eight.”
“We’ve brought waiting time down to zero,” Kolangath said. The moment a sample arrives, no matter what work is going on, the testing process starts.” Apart from speed, this serves another purpose. “Every minute, the sample quality deteriorates and evidence that you might want to extract can start disappearing,” he added.
Last year, the lab added a high-capacity sequencer capable of processing 96 samples simultaneously. The machines are set for automated processes overnight, so when the staff arrives in the morning, the results are ready.
Upadhye has grand plans for his dream project. “By the end of this year, we’ll get two more machines for molecular testing,” he said.
It was WRTC that tested and detected avian flu in tigers and a leopard. “We were able to take preventive measures for other animals and save them,” Upadhye said. Apart from forensics, the lab is building a massive DNA sample repository of animals — orphaned, abandoned, injured or in conflict with humans — that are brought to the centre.
Every animal undergoes six tests and is kept in isolation for a month to prevent crossinfection. Their DNA samples and physical examination reports are fed into a database that tracks the species, their siblings (if any), region, diseases or physical traits.
Soon, the lab hopes to use artificial intelligence to collate data and predict when a certain disease will strike a specific species and in which region, and what preventive steps can be taken. In poaching cases, samples taken from suspects can be matched in the database to trace if the poached animal has a sibling, and which region or month is more prone to such activities. Because experts in Gorewada know that speed is the key to securing fast-track convictions in wildlife crimes.
WHAT MAKES THIS RESEARCH CENTRE DIFFERENT?
Cracking Crime | Can extract DNA from highly degraded samples like dried blood or fingernail residue to identify species and link suspects to poaching, even across international borders
Rapid Testing & Automation | Processes around 60 samples monthly with fast turnaround (as quick as 8 hours), replacing earlier delays of up to two years
Rescue & Rehab | Handles and rehabilitates orphaned, injured, or abandoned wildlife. Also undertakes efforts to reunite cubs with their mothers
DNA Repository & Monitoring | Maintains a growing wildlife DNA database, tracking individual animals, their health, origin, and lineage
