Hundreds of elephants have died in the South African country of Botswana. However, the reason for the increasing death remains unknown.
Botswana is known for its overwhelming elephant population. Throughout these events, cyanide and an anthrax outbreak were prime suspects for the recent death of elephants.
Poachers have often used cyanide, a poisonous chemical for the killing of elephants by pouring this chemical into water bodies. Since the tusks of the elephants remained intact, poaching was ruled out. Also, there might have been similar deaths of other species that fed on the carcasses of the elephants.
Another possibility was an outbreak of anthrax. Over a hundred elephants died last year due to a suspected anthrax outbreak in Botswana. However, the Botswana government ruled out an anthrax outbreak as a cause of elephant deaths.
Most of the carcasses were seen near the water bodies of the Okavango Delta.
Local witnesses reported seeing elephants walk in circles suggesting that the cause may be neurological.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there has been a delay regarding the results of the samples of the carcasses.
“A catastrophic die-off of elephants is happening in northern Botswana, and no one knows why. It is vital that a team of independent experts visit and sample the carcasses before any more elephants die, or this spills over into the local human population,” said National Geographic explorer Niall McCann.