Using DNA to track the origin of the largest ivory seizure since the 1989 trade ban

The illegal ivory trade recently intensified to the highest levels ever reported. Policing this trafficking has been hampered by the inability to reliably determine geographic origin of contraband ivory. Ivory can be smuggled across multiple international borders and along numerous trade routes, making poaching hotspots and potential trade routes difficult to identify. This also makes it difficult to refute a country's denial of poaching problems. We extend an innovative DNA assignment method to determine the geographic origin(s) of large elephant ivory seizures.