More than 100 elephants have died in Botswana in the past two months because of a suspected anthrax outbreak, as well as a lack of rainfall, wildlife officials have said.
Parts of southern Africa have been hit by a severe drought, which has also led to the deaths of 55 elephants in the famous Hwange National Park, in Botswana’s neighbour Zimbabwe, over the past two months.
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More than 10 elephants were found dead in Botswana this week, and their carcasses will be burnt to prevent the anthrax infection from spreading, Botswana’s wildlife authority said.
“Preliminary investigations suggest the elephants are dying from anthrax whilst some died from drought effects,” a Department of Wildlife and National Parks statement said.
“Due to the severe drought, elephants end up ingesting soil while grazing and get exposed to the anthrax bacteria spore,” it added.
Anthrax is caused by bacillus anthracis and can be deadly but usually it does not spread easily.
It largely survives as spores that hide away in soil for years before entering an animal through a cut or wound.
Many tourists visit Botswana’s game parks to see its wildlife. The country has about 140,000 elephants, nearly a third of the continent’s population.
