Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

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A strong room underneath the Kenya Wildlife Service headquarters holds confiscated ivory.

Photograph by Brent Stirton, Getty Images/National Geographic

Cold War Radioactivity Can Date Illegal Elephant Ivory

New application of known technique may allow countries to track illegal sales.

By Roff Smith, for National Geographic

PUBLISHED

Image of the 125 Anniversary logo Fallout from long-ago Cold War explosions is now a forensic tool in the very modern war against elephant poachers and the illegal trade in ivory.