WORLD : Captive Koalas Fingerprinted
Police began fingerprinting captive koalas today to prevent others from being taken illegally from the wild and caged in tourist nature parks.
Dr. Frank Carrick of the University of Queensland said police will fingerprint 65 koalas in captivity.
He said that although koala hands have no prints, the tips of their fingers show a pattern that researchers believe is as individual as human fingerprints.
If the theory holds, Carrick said, police will record the fingerprints of all captive koalas on computer files. Wildlife rangers who suspect that a koala has been taken from the wild will check whether its print is on record.
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