_.png)
More than 350 elephants have been found dead in Botswana. 169 were discovered in early May and more than twice that many were spotted in mid-June. 70% of the deaths occurred near waterholes, making poisoning a possible cause of death. However, conservationists agree that an unknown pathogen could be another explanation. They also believe that many more elephants are likely to have died, as carcasses are difficult to spot.
Some locals have reported witnessing elephants walk around in circles, which is a sign of neurological impairment. The elephants who have been spotted walking around have died slow deaths, while others have done so quickly, as indicated by the elephants' having fallen on their faces. So far, no neighbouring countries have reported any similar cases and no tusks have been removed from the carcasses, suggesting that poachers may not be behind the mass die-off.
Conservationists have called this incident a 'conservation disaster'. Meanwhile, Botswana's government has not taken any samples to gather knowledge of why the elephants have died, or if it can be passed on to humans. Conservationists have discussed different explanations, but without proper testing, the answers can't be discovered. Private stakeholders have also offered to help the government but received no reply.