1. Introduction
Airports are important hubs for bushmeat trade, that is, the illegal commercialization of wildlife meat, often from endangered species. While the identification of bushmeat species is sometimes possible morphologically, in most cases genetic characterization would be necessary for precise taxonomic identification. We validated a mtDNA-based species identification method for its application to bushmeat species imported into Switzerland. We then applied this method to identify the taxonomic origin of 250 samples of putative bushmeat confiscated at two Swiss airports. Our results show that this method is suitable to identify a broad spectrum of species, and that there is a bushmeat trade in Switzerland, involving CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) protected species.