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   From: no-more-spammer@albasani.net   
      
   Hundreds of elephants have mysteriously dropped dead in   
   Botswana, leaving wildlife experts and government officials   
   searching for answers.   
      
   Dr. Niall McCann, director of conservation at U.K.-based charity   
   National Park Rescue, told the BBC that since the start of May,   
   colleagues in Botswana had spotted over 350 elephant carcasses   
   in the country’s Okavango Delta.   
      
   Heartbreaking aerial photos show the dead elephants dotted   
   around the Botswanan landscape. The mysterious deaths have also   
   sparked concerns about the potential health impact on people   
   living in the local area.   
      
   “A catastrophic die-off of elephants is happing in northern   
   Botswana, and no one knows why. It’s vital that a team of   
   independent experts visit and sample the carcasses before any   
   more elephants die, or this spills over into the local human   
   population,” McCann tweeted Wednesday.   
      
   Government officials in Botswana say there is no evidence that   
   poaching is involved in the mysterious elephant deaths.   
      
   McCann told the Guardian that elephants have been seen walking   
   around in circles, which might indicate a neurological condition   
   that is afflicting them. The biologist told the Guardian that   
   some of the elephants have fallen straight on their faces,   
   suggesting that they died quickly. Others, however, are dying   
   more slowly.   
      
   An unknown pathogen or poisoning are two possibilities,   
   according to the Guardian, which says that Anthrax has been   
   ruled out.   
      
   Phys.org reports that last year, more than 100 elephants in   
   Botswana died in a suspected outbreak of natural Anthrax.   
   Subsequent investigations reported than elephants died from   
   Anthrax while others were victims of drought, according to   
   Phys.org.   
      
   The Guardian reports that cyanide poisoning, which is sometimes   
   used by poachers, seems an unlikely cause of the latest die-off   
   given that the dead bodies of scavengers, such as vultures, have   
   not been seen near the elephant carcasses.   
      
   Fox News has reached out to Dr. McCann and National Park Rescue   
   on this story.   
      
   In a statement released on July 2, the Botswanan government said   
   that investigations into the unexplained deaths are ongoing.   
      
   “Following the mysterious deaths of elephants in the areas   
   around Seronga since March 2020, to date, 275 elephant carcasses   
   have been verified against the 365 reported cases,” it said.   
   “Three laboratories in Zimbabwe, South Africa and Canada have   
   been identified to process the samples taken from the dead   
   elephants which will be interpreted against field veterinary   
   assessments of clinically ill and dead elephants.”   
      
   Seronga is a village located near the start of the Okavango   
   Delta.   
      
   “Members of the public are assured that tusks are being removed   
   from the dead elephants and carcasses within proximity to human   
   settlements continue to be destroyed,” added the Botswana   
   government in its statement.   
      
   The African elephant is classified as “vulnerable” on the   
   International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List.   
      
   Last year, more than 500 vultures in Botswana were poisoned   
   after elephant carcasses were laced with chemicals.   
      
   Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers   
      
   https://www.foxnews.com/science/elephant-deaths-mystery-hundreds-   
   have-dropped-dead-in-botswana   
       
      
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