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 Mysteriöses Elefantensterben infographic
Grafik zeigt mögliche Ursachen des unerklärlichen Sterbens der Elefanten.
GN40340DE

AFRIKA

Botswana berichtet den mysteriösen Tod hunderter Elefanten

July 6, 2020 - Hunderte Elefanten sind laut Berichten im Okavango Delta von Botswana seit Mai plötzlich tot umgefallen. Im Land lebt die größte Elefanenpopulation der Welt mit rund 130.000 Stück.

Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks said it is mobilising human personnel and aircraft to better understand the “mysterious deaths.” Samples have been collected for analysis at labs in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Canada and anthrax has been ruled out as the cause.

Poaching remains a threat in the country but also has been ruled out as the cause of the deaths.

This is “one of the biggest disasters to impact elephants this century, and right in the middle of one of Africa’s top tourism destinations,” the director of conservation group National Park Rescue, Mark Hiley, said in an email.

“Elephants began dying in huge numbers in early May and the government would normally respond within days to an event of this scale. Yet here we are, months later, with no testing completed and with no more information than we had at the start.”

He said Covid-19 is an unlikely candidate but for now nothing, including poison, can be ruled out.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 06/07/2020; STORY: Graphic News
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