Pairs of elephant tusks that are separated during smuggling are illuminating the tracks of wildlife crime.
Identifying matching elephant DNA in different shipments of tusks can help scientific sleuths connect the shipments to the same ivory trafficking cartel, a new study finds. That technique has already revealed the presence of three major interconnected cartels that are active in Africa, researchers report September 19 in Science Advances.
The method could give law enforcement officials more ammunition in prosecuting traffickers and others involved in killing protected wildlife, says study coauthor Samuel Wasser, a conservation biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle.