The mysterious mass deaths that began two years ago continue to stump scientists searching for a definitive answer, leaving some worried it could happen again
In September 2020, under intense international pressure from concerned conservationists, Botswana authoritiesthat they’d identified the culprit: cyanobacteria neurotoxins. Poisons released by blue-green algae that bloom in stagnant, nutrient-rich water, cyanobacteria neurotoxins attack the nervous system if ingested.
The elephants died in remote areas that were hard to reach, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which may partly explain why months passed before Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks sent a full team to recover tissue samples from the carcasses. But the department ignored or dismissed multiple offers from individuals and organizations to search for fresh carcasses and collect samples quickly, according to experts whose offers for assistance were refused.
Mmadi Reuben, the wildlife department’s principal veterinarian, told National Geographic in an email that government investigators didn’t rely solely on tissue samples from the elephants and water samples from water holes; rather, they pieced together information from lab results, symptoms, genetic analysis, environmental factors, the distribution of various diseases, and more.
, a professor emeritus of veterinary, wildlife, and ecological toxicology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who was not involved in the investigation. Please be respectful of copyright. Unauthorized use is prohibited.: Elephants drink at a water hole in Chobe National Park, east of the Okavango Delta. In the dry season, the Okavango’s flood plains fill with water, attracting animals from all over the region.
To establish the cause of the elephants’ death, investigators collected and analyzed evidence, including tissue from the organs of stricken animals, water from nearby sources, and soil at the bottom of water holes, where cyanobacteria can sometimes be found.
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