Elephants Are Dying at a Catastrophic Rate in Botswana, and No One Knows Why
Over 350 Elephants have died in Botswana since early May and neither scientists or conservation experts can figure out why.
“This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn't been seen in a very, very long time. Outside of drought, I don’t know of a die-off that has been this significant,” Dr Niall McCann, th director o f conservation at U.K.-based charity National Park Rescue told the Guardian this week.
According to conservationists studying the phenomenon, the condition is affecting elephants of all ages and both sexes, and 70 percent of the deaths have been clustered around water holes. Witnesses say they have seen elephants walking in circles, indicating a possible neurological impairment.
Veterinarians studying the illness are unsure how rapidly the illness progresses in the animals, and while some Elephants have been found face down suggesting a sudden collapse, others have been found wandering around growing increasingly emaciated. Regardless of how the disease is manifesting in the elephants, it is spreading at an incredibly high rate. At the end of May, 169 elephants had been found dead: by mid-June, that number had more than doubled.
Dr. Cyril Taolo, the acting director of Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks, has been taking samples from the elephants, and expects results within the next couple of weeks. Upon being asked why it has taken so long to determine what is causing the illness, Taolo noted that “the COVID-19 restrictions have not helped in the transportation of samples in the region and around the world.”
Poachers in the area have been known to use cyanide to take down animals, but it seems unlikely that this is the cause of the deaths, as scavenging animals such as vultures and crocodiles do not appear to be dying around the carcasses.
“There is no precedent for this being a natural phenomenon but without proper testing, it will never be known,” said McCann.
