Mysterious Deaths Of More Than 360 Elephants In Botswana Leave Dubai Animal-Lovers In Utter Shock

Just when you thought this year could NOT get anymore baffling this news comes to light.

A catastrophic mass die-off of elephants has been taking place in northern Botswana since the last two months, with the first report of this incident being discovered back in May. Local conservationists first alerted the government in early May, after they undertook a flight over the Okavango Delta, and spotted over 169 elephant carcasses in a three-hour flight.

This mysterious occurrence is even leaving scientists in the region completely bewildered as they await official lab results, that is still weeks away. Moreover, scientists are calling this a ‘conservation disaster’.

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The number of elephants dying in a single event unrelated to droughts is being deemed as ‘totally unprecedented’ as it’s discovered that no other animals in the area have died in a similar magnitude

Although the cause of the deaths is yet to be established, anthrax poisoning (which killed over 100 elephants in Botswana last year) has been ruled out.

Also, with the elephant tusks being left intact, Botswana’s government has ruled out poaching as a reason and are further clarifying that if cyanide was used by poachers, you would expect to see other deaths. However, it’s only elephants that are dying in the area and no other animals nor the scavenging animals.

It’s been reported that the two main possible causes of deaths could be poisoning or an unknown pathogen.

This case is especially alarming as Botswana is home to a third of Africa’s declining elephant population and concerned animal enthusiasts all over the world are demanding answers

Samples have been collected and sent to specialised laboratories in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada for comprehensive testing

As reported by Phys.org.

https://twitter.com/aami___/status/1279004429455245319

The carcases were of grown adult elephants that had fallen down while walking, right on their sternum which was reported as ‘very unusual’

Several live elephants in the region appeared to have been weak, lethargic and emaciated, with some showing signs of disorientation, difficulty in walking and limping.

This is utterly tragic. Watching this space. #conservation #botswana https://t.co/FTMNXqUlXy

— Deepti Mahajan Mittal (@deepti_mm) July 2, 2020