Officials from a Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife agency have begun investigating the deaths of 12 young elephants discovered in a forested area just north of the country’s renowned Hwange National Park. This, reported on Sunday 30 August 2020.
WION News Anchor Palki Sharma: “Let us now get to the latest from Zimbabwe which seems to be probing the deaths of 12 elephants in a forest near the country’s famous Hwange National Park. Authorities have ruled out poaching since the tusks are still intact. They have also ruled out the possibility of cyanide poisoning as the scavengers feeding on the carcasses do not seem to be affected.”
“Now, 11 carcasses were discovered on Friday (28 Aug 2020) by the authorities followed by another one on Saturday. The animals were young adults aged between five and six years, and juveniles aged around 18 months. A Park and Wildlife spokesman in Zimbabwe has now hinted at bacteria as a possible cause of death.”
Image: CC Flickr by joepyrek : Hwange National Park , Zimbabwe : African elephant herd finding a waterhole but little vegetation
“The elephant population in the area has reportedly outstripped the vegetation so the animals end up eating pretty much anything that they can find including some poisonous plants. The Hwange National Park has the capacity to sustain fifteen thousand elephants but the park’s current elephant population is somewhere between forty-five thousand and fifty-three thousand.”
“The incident in Zimbabwe brings to memory a similar event in neighboring Botswana which is home to the world’s largest elephant population. Earlier this year around 300 elephants died under mysterious circumstances in Botswana. The present… the present assumption is that they succumbed to natural toxins.”
Watch WION YouTube Video: transcribed from: “Zimbabwe probes deaths of 12 elephants near Hwange park | WION News” WARNING video contains some disturbing footage of a dead elephant.
Images: CCFlickr by David Kneale Baby elephant, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe & by joepyrek Hwange National Park Zimbabwe African elephant herd finding a waterhole but little vegetation
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Image: CC Flickr by David Kneale Baby elephant, Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe