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[TheSadRanger]

350 elephants found dead in Botswana within past two months - UPI.com

Scientists in Africa have reported more than 350 elephants have died within the last two months in what has been described as a "conservation" disaster in Botswana.

www.upi.com

Hundreds of elephants found dead in Botswana

Some 350 elephant carcasses have been spotted in Botswana's Okavango Delta since May.

www.bbc.com

Some quotes are from a BBC article which also did a story on it.

Dr McCann, of the UK-based charity National Park Rescue, told the BBC local conservationists first alerted the government in early May, after they undertook a flight over the delta.

"They spotted 169 in a three-hour flight," he said. "To be able to see and count that many in a three-hour flight was extraordinary.

"A month later, further investigations identified many more carcasses, bringing the total to over 350."

"This is totally unprecedented in terms of numbers of elephants dying in a single event unrelated to drought," he added.

Back in May, Botswana's government ruled out poaching as a reason - noting the tusks had not been removed, according to Phys.org.

But they have been unable to rule out either poisoning or disease. The way the animals appear to be dying - many dropping on their faces - and sightings of other elephants walking in circles points to something potentially attacking their neurological systems, Dr McCann said.

 

[cryptoadam]

COVID 19

 

[GAMETA]

Poor creatures. Hopefully it's not a disease that can spread very far.

 

[DESTROYA]

As bad as this is I hope it’s contained in Botswana

 

[TheSadRanger]

As bad as this is I hope it’s contained in Botswana

Botswana holds a third of the elephant population for the entire continent. :/