Hundreds of elephants dead in mysterious mass die-off

[Sol]

Peculiar...

More than 350 elephants have died in northern Botswana in a mysterious mass die-off described by scientists as a “conservation disaster”.

Botswana being Botswana, no government official has sent anything to labs for testing.

Elephants of all ages and both sexes have been dying, local reports found. Several live elephants appeared weak and emaciated, suggesting more will die in the coming weeks. The true number of deaths is likely to be even higher because carcasses can be difficult to spot, say conservationists.

Just another one of those darn things for which we'll never get an answer.

Rest of the story here: Not from covid-19

[F2d5thCav]

Terrible.  Survivors will also be hugely stressed by the death of their fellows.

Cheers

[Antisthenes]

OMG! That is just heart breaking and depressing :mediumcry: :mediumcry:

[gordi]

Some kind of poisonous Algae or similar in the water holes maybe?

sad.

[Sol]

Some kind of poisonous Algae or similar in the water holes maybe?

sad.

They won't know until they get returns from the lab, which was sent way too late.

They suspected poisoning perhaps, it's poacher's paradise there..

Either way, I have a feeling that like so many other die-offs, there won't be much truth in what they say..

It is sad.

[Moonmagic]

That's pretty damn sad to see, over 350?  if that was poachers, surely they fucked up? killing so many at once doesn't make sense.

[Mystic Wanderer]

 

 

Any time I hear a story like this involving animal deaths, it just rips my soul out.   I hope they find the cause soon.

[Sol]

That's pretty damn sad to see, over 350?  if that was poachers, surely they fucked up? killing so many at once doesn't make sense.

Something somewhere went awfully wrong, that's for sure.

:(

[hounddoghowlie]

Some kind of poisonous Algae or similar in the water holes maybe?

sad.

i was thinking the same thing, one picture i saw of two dead ones was near a waterhole and it has some kinda of white substance floating all around the edges.

i'll see if i can find it again.

here it is



and the article it came from,

Hundreds of elephants found dead in Botswana

[guohua]

Just So Very Sad.

It does look like the water is bad.

[guohua]

Update to my reverious post 
The elephants do not appear to be poisoned they said.

The carcasses didn’t show signs of poisoning as no dead vultures and other scavengers were seen nearby, the group said. The 97-page report contained photos of 187 elephant carcasses.


Elephants Without Borders also recorded a number of live elephants that “appeared to be weak, lethargic and emaciated,” it said. “Some elephants appeared disorientated, had difficulty walking, showed signs of partial paralysis or a limp in their legs. One elephant was observed walking in circles, unable to change direction although being encouraged by other herd members.”
Source

Sounds more like a Parasite in their brain or a Stroke.
JMHO

[senona]

Terrible.  Survivors will also be hugely stressed by the death of their fellows.

Cheers

Yes, I heard elephants mourn much like we (humans) do when one of their family members die.

And for that many to die is very tragic. 


It will be traumatic for many of the surviving elephants sadly.

[ChiefD]

That’s horrible! And for so many to just die off like that. I hope they can find out what killed them off. Otherwise it may spread and kill many more of these magnificent creatures.