More than 350 elephants have died from unexplained causes in northern Botswana in what experts consider a “conservation tragedy.” And the local authority has still not been able to check tissue samples due to technical problems arising from the Coronavirus pandemic.
KEY FACTS
- At the beginning of May, a dozen elephants suddenly died in the famed Okavango Delta, verified by the Ministry of Tourism of Botswana.
- By mid-June, it was announced that more than 200 elephants had died in the region; but the tusks of slain elephants had not been confiscated, indicating that hunters had not killed them.
- On Wednesday, The Guardian announced that more than 350 elephants have actually died; with 70 percent of the deaths concentrated around waterholes.
- Elephants of both ages and of all sexes have died, and some living elephants have emerged sickly, indicating that the death rate will increase.
- According to The Guardian, the two key hypotheses are poisoning or an unknown pathogen; (Covid-19 has been reported as a potential source but is thought unlikely).
- African hunters have used cyanide poisoning in the past, but it is confirmed that scavenging animals do not appear to be collapsing around carcasses.
CRITICAL QUOTE:
“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,” said Dr. Niall McCann, the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue.
KEY BACKGROUND:
In recent years, poachers have lowered Africa ‘s total elephant population. According to the 18-country aerial elephant count performed by Elephants Without Borders, the overall number of elephants on the continent declined by an unprecedented 30% between 2007 and 2014.
Botswana is home to more than 130,000 elephants, about one-third of Africa’s remaining savannah elephants. There are nearly 15,000 elephants in the Okavango Delta. In 2014, President Ian Khama imposed a ban on big-game hunting in Botswana. The ban was repealed in 2019, allowing sports hunters to execute elephants.
TANGENT:
Dr. Cyril Taolo, acting director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Botswana, told the media that the global coronavirus pandemic has hampered the government’s ability to respond.
“Covid-19 limitations have not helped to move samples in the field and around the world,” he said. “We ‘re starting to recover from this, and it’s why we’re now in a place to send samples to other labs.”
Source: Forbes
