DNA Analysis From Seized Elephant Tusks Exposes Criminal Poaching Networks

PATERSON, SOUTH AFRICA - FEBRUARY 08: A herd of elephants drinks at a water-hole in the morning at the Shamwari Private Game Reserve on February 8, 2022 in Paterson, South Africa. University of Washington researchers and U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents have been able to discover the networks trafficking ivory from Africa by using genetic testing on apprehended ivory. Every year, poachers kill tens of thousands of elephants, although there has been a ban on the international ivory trade for about the last 30 years, according to a National Geographic newsletter from 2020. (Footage by David Silverman/Getty Images)