CSI methods could speed up investigations into wildlife crime, study finds

A Sumatran elephant calf that lost half of its trunk, is treated at an elephant conservation center in Indonesia in 2021. Normally, inspectors would need to find suspect parts of animals, which can be a cumbersome, time-consuming, and painstaking process. The new method was able to instead examine dust and scraps on floors to establish where animals had been. File photo: AP/Munandar

Applying crime scene investigation (CSI) techniques to the $20bn (€17.8bn) a year illegal wildlife trade could uncover crimes in a fraction of the usual time, Irish scientists have found.

Scientists from Atlantic Technological University (ATU) in the northwest teamed up with University of Salford and Liverpool John Moores University in order to track the likes of prints, residue, and genetic material from animals killed indiscriminately by poachers and traders, akin to Gil Grissom and his team in the hugely popular CSI television series.