Wildlife crime is a significant threat to biodiversity and can have serious ecological, economic, and social impact. Skin, horns, claws, antlers, and virtually all parts of an animal’s body are utilized in illegal trade. Animal hair is invariably found as physical evidence in wildlife crimes pertaining to mammals. It is also found in wildlife crimes in the form of illegal artifacts, or as circumstantial evidence suggesting the involvement of crime against animals. DNA typing methods are widely applied for species identification but are sometimes unreliable when the sample is highly degraded or mixed with other items. Hair is commonly analysed by microscopic techniques; however, it lacks statistical confidence in identification when the sample size is small and the results are somewhat subjective in nature. Here, we investigate the role of attenuated total reflection Fourier transform-infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy in analysing the spectra obtained from the hair of two distant species of Indian blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) and Hanuman langur (Semnopithecus entellus) in combination with a suitable chemometric model, i.e., PCA (principal component analysis) and PLS-DA (partial least squares discriminant analysis). This is an alternate non-destructive method for the distinction of the multiple spectra. PCA plot showed the grouping to some extent; however, PLS-DA analysis resulted in the correct segregation of both species. Additionally, this model was validated by 6 unknown hair samples of both species, resulting in a 100% accuracy. The model’s sensitivity and specificity were also tested and calculated to be 1. Hence, the potential of ATR-FTIR spectroscopy is demonstrated by its speed, non-destructive examination, and minimal or no sample preparation. It can complement the present microscopic and DNA-based techniques.
