(ORDO NEWS) — 54 elephants were found dead in late May in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Earlier in May, 12 more elephant carcasses were found, and together with 44 elephants who died in March, the total number of dead animals was 110.
According to authorities, there are no signs of violent death on the bodies of animals. The poisoned version also looks unlikely.
Poachers have nothing to do with it.
“I would say that 90% of the new cases that we discovered are old carcasses that we simply did not find before. However, there are also completely fresh bodies. There are no signs on all carcasses found that poachers did this, ”said Dimakatso Ntschebe, Regional Director for Wildlife, Government of Botswana.
It is reported that experts did not find anthrax in dead animals (this dangerous infection sometimes becomes responsible for the death of entire groups of giants of the African savannah). And earlier in May, Ntshebe reported that it was “very unlikely” that the animals had been poisoned. If this were so, some scavengers who ate carcasses of elephants might die, however, no one noticed other massively dead animals.
According to the Daily Mail, restrictions on movement in connection with the coronavirus pandemic hinder the investigation. Sending samples for testing has been delayed.
To date, in Botswana in the wild, live about 130 thousand elephants. All in Africa on the current day there are 350 thousand. In the 1900s, American and European hunters exterminated almost all of the elephants here, thanks to which the ducts of the Okavango delta do not overgrow. Only the titanic efforts of scientists have allowed to restore the population of animals in the delta, adds optimism and its inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
In February, the country’s authorities for the first time in six years began selling licenses for the shooting of elephants (previously it was temporarily prohibited): many are convinced that it is legal and very expensive elephant hunting, especially considering that only animals that have reached the elderly are allowed to kill age is a good way to protect both the wild animals themselves and their environment. In total, in 2020 it was planned to sell 272 licenses, the cost of each of which is 47 thousand dollars.
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