Deadly algae flowers: Why 350 elephants in Botswana died

Deadly algae flowers: Why 350 elephants in Botswana died

A shocking discovery shakes botswana: over 350 elephants died in poisoned water holes in 2020! Scientists have now uncovered the terrible truth.

In 2020 the inconceivable happened: at least 350 majestic elephants died tragically in Botswana. The cause? A fatal cocktail of water holes, contaminated with cyanobacteria that released dangerous cyanotoxins. This shocking revelation comes from an investigation that was carried out by researchers at King’s College London.

The alarming results show that around 20 water holes in the Okavango Delta were contaminated over an area of around 6,000 square kilometers. The elephants, which are considered a symbol of the wilderness of Africa, were victims of this insidious poisoning in May and June 2020.

What are cyanobacteria and how do you endanger elephants?

cyanobacteria, also known as blue algae, are not always poisonous. But some species can create fatal algae flowers that thrive in standing water. These dangerous algae were identified in the said examination. Davide Lomeo, a scientist for earth observation at King’s College London, explained that environmental factors such as sudden temperature rising and nutrient pollution can lead to the production of cyanotoxins.

The shocking deaths were discovered by regular air monitoring of the Elephant's organization with Borders. In these surveys, 161 elephant carcasses and 222 bones were documented in the Ngamiland district in northern Botswanas. The close accumulation of the Kadaver indicated that the deaths suddenly and not gradually occurred.

How was the fatal algae blossom identified?

Before the researchers were able to confirm the toxic algae as the cause of death, they had to rule out other possible causes. Although the area is considered a well-known poaching hotspot, the elephants were found with intact tusks, which indicates another cause of death. Other theories such as viruses or bacteria were also rejected because no clinical signs of an illness were found.

The distribution of the carcass and bones pointed out specific local factors that led to factory death. With the help of satellite images, the researchers were able to follow the elephants' path from the contaminated water holes after drinking - an average of 16.5 kilometers. Many elephants died only 3.6 days after drinking from these water holes.

The study shows that the 88 hours after drinking with the well -known toxicological time frames match other large mammals that died of blue algae poisoning. Despite these findings, the exact cause remains unclear, since it cannot be determined whether the elephants drank from one or more water holes.

The researchers warn that the specific conditions that lead to fatal poisoning are still unknown. It remains uncertain whether these terrible incidents could occur again in the future. In arid regions in which animals are dependent on standing water, such factory deaths are not excluded.

The Botswana government officially recognized the cause of the elephant death as environmental poisoning by cyanobacterial toxins. The shocking events throw a bright light on the dangers lurking in the water holes and the need to monitor the water quality in these sensitive ecosystems.