In 2020, in the Okavango Delta in Botswana, a strange story occurred with the death of 350 elephants. Healthy-looking animals of all ages walked around in circles like zombies, and then fell and died.
Then many theories arose about their death – from cyanide poisoning to an unknown disease. Completely different versions have been put forward, such as this one:
After the research, the picture became clearer. The results of their scientific work – research into the mass death of majestic animals – scientists published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, tells The Guardian.
The new study's lead author, Davide Lomeo, said it was the most documented elephant extinction for which the cause was unknown. A team of scientists led by him suggested that the animals were poisoned by water containing a toxic concentration of blue-green algae – cyanobacteria.
To analyze what was happening then, researchers used satellite images. They found that elephants typically walked just over 100 kilometers from a watering hole and died within 88 hours of drinking. In total, scientists examined 3 thousand reservoirs. They discovered that there were many bodies of dead elephants near the blooms due to cyanobacteria.
It is possible that other dead animals were not noticed during the aerial photography, and smaller ones could have been eaten by predators. The study says:
“Globally, this event highlights the alarming trend of sudden illnesses caused by climate change.”
That same year, 35 elephants died from an unknown bacterium in Zimbabwe, which was also associated with a long drought. In 2019, southern Africa experienced the driest weather in decades. Then 2020 came with a lot of rain. This left more sediment and nutrients suspended in the water, leading to unprecedented algae growth. With climate change, much of the world may experience dry and hot weather with occasional heavy rainfall. Lomeo says:
“It's very sad that so many elephants died, but it points to a global trend of sudden illnesses caused by climate change… There is strong evidence that this can happen to any animal.”
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