Horror of Elephant Poaching Could End–Because of Cold War Radiation
The atomic bomb testing of the Cold War years may be long over, but it turns out that some unexpected good has come of the radiation they left behind: it may help put the poachers of elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns in jail, and stop this horrific illegal trade. The reason is that faint trace elements from the bomb tests have worked their way up the food chain into the bones, teeth, tusks and hair of animals, including animals whose remains are now illegal to trade. To know whether or not a tusk is illegal, its age must be determined, and measuring their radiation signatures can pinpoint this age of these tusks to within an accuracy of about 4 to 16 months.
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