Scientists have solved the mystery of why more than 300 elephants died in Africa at the same time

Five years later, scientists solved the mystery of why more than 300 elephants died in Africa in a couple of months.

The incident was recorded from May to July 2020. Then more than 350 dead elephants were in Botswana, in southern Africa in the Okavango Delta. The researchers used spatial analysis and satellite remote sensing and came to the conclusion that elephants died on average every three days after walking 16 kilometers. Scientists have ruled out any viral or bacterial diseases, including anthrax. Also, no signs of poaching were found, since the animal's tusks remained in place. Hunger was also not the reason.

All the fault, according to the British magazine "Science of the total Environment", was the intense flowering of deadly toxic cyanobacteria. Zoologists have found that in the Okavango Delta the greatest concentration of these unicellular organisms was in the depressions of the soil, which often serve as a watering hole for elephants. These are temporary reservoirs, the water in which is usually turbid, but rich in nutrients.

"We identified 20 watering holes near fresh carcasses, where in 2020 an increased algal bloom, including cyanobacteria, was recorded compared to the previous three years combined. These reservoirs also showed the highest average biomass of these organisms in the period 2015-2023," explained geographer David Lomeo, the main author of this work.

The situation was especially dangerous for animals, because depending on the ambient temperature, elephants could drink from 100 to 200 liters of water per day. The animals died even after a few days, so they were also found far from watering holes.

"This event highlights the alarming trend of the sudden occurrence of climatic diseases affecting large ungulates," the researchers explain.