Botswana: Mystery elephant deaths caused by cyanobacteria

[muriel_volestrangler]

Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population.
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Officials say a total of 330 elephants are now known to have died from ingesting cyanobacteria. Poaching has been ruled out as a cause of death.
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Many of the dead elephants were found near watering holes, but until now the wildlife authorities had doubted that the bacteria were to blame because the blooms appear on the edges of ponds and elephants tend to drink from the middle.
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The deaths "stopped towards the end of June 2020, coinciding with the drying of [water] pans", AFP quotes him as saying.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54234396

See https://www.democraticunderground.com/1127138784

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Next - Zimbabwe: Elephants die from 'bacterial disease'

Wildlife officials in Zimbabwe say they suspect a bacterial disease is responsible for the deaths of more than 30 elephants since late August.

The elephants were found lying on their stomachs, which experts say suggests they died suddenly.

Park officials do not believe they were the victims of poaching as their tusks had not been removed.
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Post-mortem examinations of some of the elephants found they had inflamed livers and other organs.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-54345439