A New Pathogen May Be The Cause Of Mysterious Deaths Of Elephants In Botswana
Mysterious deaths of elephants happening in Botswana may be due to a new pathogen, a pachyderm-adverse pathogen according to NY Post.
A few days back the mysterious deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana became a matter of concern for many around the world. What added to the problem was that the government had not taken any immediate step to understand why this had happened.
After days, there seems be some ¡®clarity¡¯ about the situation. NY Post reports that according to the government a pachyderm-adverse pathogen, a deadly new novel disease, might be the cause of the deaths.
Mail Online
Since it is reportedly a new pathogen, scientists would have to rule out its transmission from animals to humans.
Parts of the elephant carcasses have been sent to Zimbabwe as samples in a bid to learn more about what is killing the creatures and test results are also awaited from South Africa, Mail Online reports.
Calling it a ¡®conservation disaster¡¯ earlier Dr Niall McCann, the director of conservation at UK-based charity National Park Rescue told Guardian, ¡°This is a mass die-off on a level that hasn¡¯t been seen in a very, very long time. Outside of drought, I don¡¯t know of a die-off that has been this significant.
Guardian
¡°When we¡¯ve got a mass die-off of elephants near human habitation at a time when wildlife disease is very much at the forefront of everyone¡¯s minds,¡± he added.
It was reported that locals saw some elephants walking around in circles, before dying, which could be an indication of neurological impairment.
¡°If you look at the carcasses, some of them have fallen straight on their face, indicating they died very quickly. Others are obviously dying more slowly, like the ones that are wandering around. So it¡¯s very difficult to say what this toxin is,¡± McCann said.
Guardian
Elephants of all ages and both sexes have been dying.
According to a Guardian report, a cluster of elephant deaths was first reported in the Okavango Delta in early May, with 169 dead by the end of the month. By June, the number more than doubled. 70 per cent of the deaths were clustered around waterholes. The number of death now stands close to 400.
Last year, Botswana legalised the hunting of elephants because the country had ¡®too many of them¡¯ post which 70 elephants were legally killed there.
More information about the new pathogen is awaited.
