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Home
The 2020 Elephant Die-off In Botswana.

Home
The 2020 Elephant Die-off In Botswana.

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The 2020 elephant die-off in Botswana.

Rudi J van Aarde¹, Stuart L Pimm^1,2, Robert Guldemond¹

¹Conservation Ecology Research Unit, Department of Zoology and Entomology, University of Pretoria, Hatfield, Gauteng, South Africa.

|January 29, 2021

View abstract on PubMed

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The cause of 350 elephant deaths in Botswana remains unknown, but contagious disease is suspected over poisoning or poaching. Management strategies in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area need re-evaluation.

Keywords:

Botswana Conservation Die-off Dispersal Elephants Fences

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Area of Science:

Wildlife Ecology
Conservation Biology
Veterinary Epidemiology

Background:

Unexplained mortality of 350 elephants in northern Botswana in 2020 raised concerns.
Media speculation on causes overlooked ecological factors and conservation implications.
Elephant population dynamics are influenced by factors within the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the unknown cause of a large elephant die-off in Botswana.
To address ecological and conservation issues related to elephant management.
To counter detrimental media speculation with evidence-based analysis.

Main Methods:

Ruled out malicious poisoning and poaching based on intact tusks and unaffected other species.

Considered water scarcity and potential blue-green algae contamination as possible but unproven factors.

Identified contagious disease as a more probable cause for the elephant deaths.

Main Results:

The die-off was confined to a specific area, suggesting localized factors like fences and water channels played a role.
These confinement factors likely contributed to a high elephant population growth rate despite past poaching.
While the deaths were ~2% of the local population, they highlight the impact of human-wildlife conflict and habitat fragmentation.

Conclusions:

Contagious disease is the most probable cause for the elephant mortality event.
Habitat confinement and high elephant densities likely exacerbated the situation.
Recommendations include re-aligning or removing fences to improve elephant movement and freshwater access.