330 elephants in Botswana may have died from toxic algae
GABORONE, BOTSWANA –
The sudden deaths of some 330 elephants in northwestern Botswana
earlier this year may have occurred because they drank water
contaminated by toxic blue-green algae, the government announced Monday.
The sudden deaths of some 330 elephants in northwestern Botswana
earlier this year may have occurred because they drank water
contaminated by toxic blue-green algae, the government announced Monday.
The elephants in the Seronga area died from a neurological disorder
that appears to have been caused by drinking water tainted by “a toxic
bloom of cyanobacterium in seasonal pans (water sources) in the region,”
said Cyril Taolo, acting Director of the Department of Wildlife and
National Parks.
The unexplained deaths ceased after the water pans dried up, said Taolo, in a press conference in Gaborone, the capital.