350 elephants drop dead in Botswana, some walking in circles before doing face-plants

Some of the elephants were seen walking in circles before collapsing face-first into the earth in Botswana.
Some of the elephants were seen walking in circles before collapsing face-first into the earth in Botswana. (Image credit: Elephants Without Borders)

More than 350 elephants in Botswana have mysteriously died since May, in a phenomenon that some scientists have dubbed a "conservation disaster," and one that has evaded explanation.

The elephants — which died in the swampy Okavango Delta — still had their tusks intact, suggesting that ivory poaching hadn't driven the deaths, The Guardian reported. A flight over the delta in May by researchers with Elephants Without Borders, a wildlife conservation organization, first spotted 169 carcasses; that number jumped to 356 in June, when the conservationists took another flight over the area.

Botswana's Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation, and Tourism has verified 275 of those elephant carcasses, according to a statement from the African Wildlife Foundation.

Related: Elephant images: The biggest beasts on land

The mass die-off could be explained by either a poison or some as-yet unknown pathogen, according to The Guardian. Already, officials have ruled out anthrax,  the carcasses tested negative for that bacterium, said Scott Schlossberg, a research consultant for Elephants Without Borders. 

The bacterium that causes anthrax disease, called Bacillus anthracis, occurs naturally in soils, where it can stay inactive as spores for decades, scientists reported in 2019 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Grazing animals can ingest anthrax-tainted soils along with plants or while drinking from watering holes. 

This isn't the first elephant die-off in the region; more than 100 elephants died over a two-month period in the fall of 2019 in Botswana's Chobe National Park, primarily driven by drought. Some of those deaths may have been due to anthrax, as the elephants would have ingested soil (possibly contaminated with anthrax spores) while grazing around dried-up watering holes and across wilted grasslands, the AFP reported at the time.

Some of the elephants were seen walking in circles before collapsing face-first into the earth in Botswana.

Though hundreds of elephants have died in a short span of time, they seem to be dying individually and not in groups. (Image credit: Elephants Without Borders)

What's behind the recent deaths?

Local sources told The Guardian that 70% of the elephant carcasses — which span all ages — have been found around watering holes, so perhaps the culprit is somehow linked to watering holes, The Guardian reported. Also, locals have reported that some of the elephants were walking in circles before their deaths, suggesting a neurological issue. 

"If you look at the carcasses, some of them have fallen straight on their face, indicating they died very quickly," Niall McCann, director of conservation at the U.K.-based conservation organization National Park Rescue, told The Guardian. "Others are obviously dying more slowly, like the ones that are wandering around. So it's very difficult to say what this toxin is."

Related: In photos: The most surprising elephant relatives on Earth

Another idea, though unlikely, is cyanide, which poachers often use to poison elephants. However, in the case of cyanide poisoning, the elephants are generally clustered in one area where the poison was deployed, and other animals scavenging on their carcasses also show up dead, The New York Times reported. This hasn't been the case in Botswana.

Rather than foul play, the elephants might have died from a natural culprit, said Chris Thouless, the head of research at the conservation organization Save the Elephants, which is based in Kenya, The New York Times reported. Thouless suggested the viral disease encephalomyocarditis, which is transmitted by rodents, could be to blame. The disease causes neurological impairment and is known to have killed 60 elephants in South Africa's Kruger National Park in the mid-1990s, according to a report published in 1995 in the Onderstepoort Journal of Veterinary Research.

He added that Botswana recently emerged from a drought, which can leave elephants stressed and more susceptible to diseases. 

Conservation disaster?

Botswana supports a population of about 130,000 elephants, more than in any other country in Africa, according to the African Wildlife Foundation. The delta where these carcasses were found is home to about 15,000 of those elephants, according to The Guardian. 

The loss of hundreds of elephants (a number that could climb if the culprit isn't discovered and addressed soon) may impact the country's ecotourism, which relies on elephants and other wildlife, and contributes 10% to 12% of Botswana's GDP, The Guardian reported. 

"You see elephants as assets of the country. They are the diamonds wandering around the Okavango delta," said McCann, as reported by The Guardian. "It's a conservation disaster — it speaks of a country that is failing to protect its most valuable resource."

Thouless disagrees with the idea that these deaths represent a "conservation disaster," pointing to the fact that the deaths represent such a small percentage of the delta's total population. 

However, that number could climb if the cause isn't determined and mitigated. As for whether or not the mortality is continuing, the last time we flew over the area in mid-June, we were still finding very fresh carcasses from elephants that had died a few days to a few weeks previously," Schlossberg told Live Science. "So, the mortality appears to have been continuing into June. We would not be surprised if elephants were still dying, but we would need to do another survey to confirm this."

Some of the elephants were seen walking in circles before collapsing face-first into the earth in Botswana.

(Image credit: Elephants Without Borders)

Slow response?

Experts contacted by The Guardian were concerned by how slowly the official investigation of the deaths is proceeding. The Botswana government has yet to get, or release, results from lab tests on the carcasses and the surrounding environment. 

Related: Incredible photos capture last glimpse of long-tusked 'elephant queen'

"Toxicological tests of elephant remains, water and soil in the areas where the remains have been found are currently [being] undertaken by the National Veterinary Laboratory," Cyril Taolo, the acting director of Botswana's Department of Wildlife and National Parks, told Live Science in an email.

Taolo added, "We are not in a position [to] divulge details of the investigation that is ongoing and we do not wish to speculate on the cause of the mortalities."

Although some conservationists have suggested the government is not taking these deaths seriously, Taolo said otherwise. The die-off is "taken with all the due seriousness that it deserves. That is why resources have been expended to establish the extent of the mortalities and the cause."

Originally published on Live Science.

Jeanna Bryner
Live Science Editor-in-Chief

Jeanna served as editor-in-chief of Live Science. Previously, she was an assistant editor at Scholastic's Science World magazine. Jeanna has an English degree from Salisbury University, a master's degree in biogeochemistry and environmental sciences from the University of Maryland, and a graduate science journalism degree from New York University. She has worked as a biologist in Florida, where she monitored wetlands and did field surveys for endangered species. She also received an ocean sciences journalism fellowship from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

  • J Dudley
    Cyanobacterial poisoning should be considered as a possible cause for this die-off, based on presence of dense algae blooms in waterholes shown in some photos from this die-off. For example, see photo at https://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/744/247/BOTSWANA-ELEPHANTS_wide.jpg
    Reply
  • Monica
    This is probably related to 5G that has just come online in Southern Africa VODACOM & MTN & TELCOM😓
    5G mmWaves are deadly, testing of 5G frequencies and telecom is likely the reason behind the massive elephant deaths as they are highly sensitive to low frequency.... 5G will wreak havoc on their ears and brain - not to mention bodies. the US embassy in Botswana is a joke. https://africageographic.com/stories/botswana-elephant-graveyard-mystery-death-toll-rises-to-400/https://www.sundaystandard.info/botswana-plays-catch-up-on-mobile-internet/ https://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-communication/acoustic-communication.html
    Reply
  • hellopunyhumans
    Monica said:
    This is probably related to 5G that has just come online in Southern Africa VODACOM & MTN & TELCOM😓
    5G mmWaves are deadly, testing of 5G frequencies and telecom is likely the reason behind the massive elephant deaths as they are highly sensitive to low frequency.... 5G will wreak havoc on their ears and brain - not to mention bodies. the US embassy in Botswana is a joke. https://africageographic.com/stories/botswana-elephant-graveyard-mystery-death-toll-rises-to-400/https://www.sundaystandard.info/botswana-plays-catch-up-on-mobile-internet/https://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-communication/acoustic-communication.html
    Suprised it's Monica not Karen. Light is not sound.
    Reply
  • Ruben Lopera
    No descarto nada ni invento teorías, las hipótesis pueden ser varias, pero el ambiente no me gusta, algo pasa. vamos a ver

    Translation;
    I do not rule out anything or invent theories, the hypotheses can be several, but I do not like the environment, something happens. we'll see
    Reply
  • Liam Lucas
    Monica said:
    This is probably related to 5G that has just come online in Southern Africa VODACOM & MTN & TELCOM😓
    5G mmWaves are deadly, testing of 5G frequencies and telecom is likely the reason behind the massive elephant deaths as they are highly sensitive to low frequency.... 5G will wreak havoc on their ears and brain - not to mention bodies. the US embassy in Botswana is a joke. https://africageographic.com/stories/botswana-elephant-graveyard-mystery-death-toll-rises-to-400/https://www.sundaystandard.info/botswana-plays-catch-up-on-mobile-internet/https://www.elephantvoices.org/elephant-communication/acoustic-communication.html

    Just shows how completely out of touch with reality you are. For a start it is High Frequency, and it is fact just magnetism like all radio waves. It would be no more harmful than the "radiation" emitted from your WiFi modem you are probably connecting your computer to the internet with. I suppose you are also one of these greenies carrying on about CO2, a harmless gas that has not caused one hundredth of a degree of global warming over the past 50,000 years. Protesters with your mindless stupidity in Melbourne Australia have claimed 5G is also connected with Black deaths and Covid 19 as well as a myriad of other causes dreamed up by your Marxist leaders.
    Reply
  • SeattleFreeze
    This is alarming and heartbreaking
    Reply
  • hellopunyhumans
    (Insert they had us in the first half meme here, the image wouldn't load)
    She probably has a tan, unbeknownst of the actually harmful solar radiation. But CO2 is sure a harmless gas, but even if humans aren't causing it, it is a major global climate driver. Look at the late permian, for example. Lava blew up the cambrian shales underneath the siberean traps, realeasing multiple industrial revolutions of carbon dioxide, creating tempuratures so high that death valley would be one of the nicest places on earth.
    Reply
  • 24seven
    There's no scavengers? That's terrible
    Reply
  • ILoveAnimals
    What is being done to protect the lives of the living elephants? If you know the elephants are suffering (wondering in circles) and dying, why have you not relocated the remaining elephants or supplemented their water and food sources will manmade water troughs and other green roots, grasses, and fruits sources for food? You the experts and so called conservationists - - - are you just going to wait until they all drop dead? Love the remaining elephants and move them to a confined area and spend some of that conservation dollars on clean watering troughs and food sources while you investigate what's killing them.
    Reply
  • Vioseff Râisón
    admin said:
    More than 350 elephants in Botswana have mysteriously died since May, in a phenomenon that some scientists have dubbed a "conservation disaster," and one that has evaded explanation.

    350 elephants drop dead in Botswana, some walking in circles before doing face-plants : Read more
    Astounded as usual from general failure to see the connection (or, as usual, being the only one willing to call it out), again, I guess I am the only one who, finds this mystery death of Botswana’s elephants to be even more mysterious, given the fact that this atrocity took place in the very country that had recently lifted a five-year ban on the highly-controversial culling murder of its elephants. Which would be, BOTSWANA! Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
    For more clues, a good place to start would be with Massissi.
    Reply