TRACES

TRACES begins when a beloved lion pride is found poisoned in northern Botswana. As a ranger who has watched over the lions for years searches for answers alongside wildlife veterinarian and forensic scientist Dr. Kathleen Alexander, the investigation begins to expose a far larger and more unsettling story. Moving from the African bush to the forensic laboratory, the film traces the hidden intersections between wildlife crime, environmental instability, disease risk, and the growing pressures facing both people and wildlife across one of Africa’s last great ecosystems. As the inquiry deepens, it reveals how wildlife trafficking can intersect with far darker transnational criminal networks tied to arms, drug, and human trafficking, blurring the boundaries between conservation, security, and justice. Intimate, investigative, and unfolding in real time, TRACES explores what happens when the boundaries between survival, exploitation, and coexistence begin to collapse.