What is Behind the Deaths of Botswana's Elephants?

A dead elephant near a waterhole.

Over the last two months, Botswana has been plagued by deaths of hundreds of elephants and no one knows why. According to biologist Dr. Niall McCann of U.K's National Park Rescue, he and his colleagues found more than 350 elephant carcasses in the Okavango Delta. The government stated that lad results on samples collected are still weeks away. Dr. McCann stated that local conservationists first notified the government in early May after they flew over the delta. A total of 169 carcasses were sighted during the three-hour flight and a month later, that figure increased to 350. The government dismissed poaching as the cause of deaths since the elephants' tusks were not removed. Dr. McCann further added that no other animals other than elephants are dying. He experimentally dismissed natural anthrax poisoning, which killed about 100 elephants in the country last year. The way the elephants appeared to be dying consisted of them walking around in circles until dropping down on their faces, which Dr. McCann pointed out to be something possibly attacking their neurological systems. Either way, there has been no possible answer of what could be the cause of the elephants' deaths.

A dead elephant

I find this issue to be extremely calamitous and there has been a constant struggle in determining what is behind the deaths of Botswana's elephants. It arises so many questions such as "Could there be something in the water, food, or soil that is killing the elephants?" or "Is there some kind of a disease that is decimating the country's elephant population?" The second question touches on an issue in India almost two years ago when the Asiatic lion population became devastated by a combination of canine distemper and babesiosis in which 24 animals died. The lion population had been increasing substantially and dispersing beyond the borders of Gir Forest National Park and into areas where they had once disappeared. Even though the results of the analysis of samples collected are weeks away, I think it is crucial to further investigate the elephant mortality in Botswana. This includes conducting more aerial surveys to see the state of the current figures. In addition, more samples need to be collected in the form of water, vegetation, soil, and elephant blood for analysis.

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