Botswana recorded 12 mysterious deaths of elephants last week as compared to 44 that were registered on March 18, 2020, the Ministry of Environment, National Resources Conservation and Tourism has disclosed.
In a press release this week, the ministry informed members of the public about mysterious deaths in the Seronga and Eretsha areas over the past week.
“Consequently preliminary investigations regarding the cause of deaths are currently ongoing, whilst surveillance operations are underway to trace any more dead elephants,” Dr Oduetse Koboto, the acting permanent secretary in the tourism
Dr Koboto also cautioned the public against consumption of meat of such dead animals as it may be detrimental to their health. Similarly, in October 2019, Botswana reported that more than 100 elephants died from a suspected anthrax outbreak. Preliminary investigations then suggested the jumbos died from anthrax whilst some died from drought effects.