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Mystery surrounds the “completely unprecedented” deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana in the past two months.
Dr. Niall McCann said that his colleagues in the southern African country had seen more than 350 elephant carcasses in the Okavango Delta since early May.
According to the government, no one knows why the animals are dying, with laboratory results on samples still weeks away.
Botswana is home to a third of Africa’s declining elephant population.
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Dr. McCann, of UK-based charity National Park Rescue, told the BBC that local conservationists first alerted the government in early May, after they flew over the delta.
“They saw 169 on a three-hour flight,” he said. “Being able to see and count so many on a three-hour flight was extraordinary.
“A month later, new investigations identified many more bodies, bringing the total to over 350.”
“This is unprecedented in terms of the number of elephants that die in a single non-drought related event,” he added.
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In May, the Botswana government ruled out poaching as a reason, noting that the tusks had not been removed, according to Phys.org.
There are other things that point to more than poaching.
“Only the elephants are dying and nothing else,” said Dr. McCann. “If poachers used cyanide, you would expect to see other deaths.”
Dr. McCann also tentatively ruled out natural anthrax poisoning, which killed at least 100 elephants in Bostwana last year.
But they have been unable to rule out either poisoning or disease. The way the animals appear to be dying, many falling on their faces, and sightings of other elephants walking in circles point to something that potentially attacks their neurological systems, Dr. McCann said.
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Either way, without knowing the source, it is impossible to rule out the possibility of a disease crossing into the human population, especially if the cause is in water sources or in the soil. Dr. McCann points out the Covid-19 pandemic, which is believed to have started in animals.
“Yes, it is a conservation disaster, but it also has the potential to be a public health crisis,” he said.
Dr. Cyril Taolo, acting director of the Botswana Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told the Guardian that so far they have confirmed that at least 280 elephants have died and that they were in the process of confirming the rest.
However, they did not know what was causing the animals’ deaths.
“We have sent [samples] for testing and we expect results in the next two weeks, “he said.
