Uganda: Uganda's UN-Supported Wildlife Forensics Lab Turns Ivory Seizures Into Convictions

What the report says

Uganda’s UN-supported wildlife forensics lab in Entebbe is helping convert suspected ivory and wildlife seizures into court cases and convictions, according to UN News, which AllAfrica published on 3 October 2026. The report says the facility, backed since 2019 by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and expanded in April with support from Denmark and the European Union, plays a growing role in investigations handled by the Uganda Police Force and the Uganda Wildlife Authority.

One example involved a package intercepted in January 2025 in Entebbe and destined for Cairo. Officers initially had only small, unidentifiable pieces that might have been bone or ivory. Lab testing found the cross-hatched pattern linked to elephant ivory, and DNA analysis confirmed the material came from an elephant. Police later arrested the sender, found more ivory at his home, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison or a fine equivalent to 140 million Ugandan shillings.

The article says the lab is now used not only for ivory cases but also for bushmeat, pangolin scales and, more recently, timber investigations. Its staff collect samples, preserve chain-of-custody records and use microscopy and DNA methods to identify animal remains that have been cut into pieces or stripped of obvious features. Officials quoted in the report said this evidence is increasingly important in Uganda’s wildlife court, where it can strengthen prosecutions and encourage guilty pleas.

Beyond the courtroom, the report places the work in the wider context of wildlife crime, forest loss and illegal logging in Uganda. It notes that traffickers and local economic pressures both contribute to the problem, and that authorities see enforcement, livelihoods and conservation as connected parts of the response.