Seven elephants found dead outside Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe)
Nokuthaba Dlamini, VicFallsLive
January 20, 2022
See link
https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2022/01/20/seven-elephants-found-dead-outside-hwange-national-park/
for photo.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) rangers last
week stumbled on remains of seven elephants that are believed to have died
two months ago at the Ngamo Forest on the outskirts of the Hwange National
Park.
The cause of the death of the seven elephants, that included a bull and
calves, is not yet known.
Tinashe Farawo, the Zimparks spokesperson, told VicFallsLive on Thursday
that tests carried out so far showed that the elephants died about two
months ago.
“Our investigations are still ongoing, but the laboratory results ruled out
the suspicion of them dying from cyanide poisoning but we are still
exploring the possible causes of their deaths,” Farawo said.
“The seven deceased elephants were a family because there was a bull,
substandard ones and calves.”
Farawo said the decision to rule out cyanide of poisoning was influenced by
the fact that there were no other carnivores that died after consuming meat
from the affected elephants.
“Hyenas and vultures could’ve also immediately died because they fed on the
corpses but patrol officers did not come across any that had died, so we
suspect that they might have died from an infection which is still under
investigation,” he added.
“Their ivory was also still intact, so the other theory could be that they
succumbed to a natural cause because when elephants age, their teeth fall
off and at times their trunks could be faulty which affects their breeding
patterns causing some problems which eventually leads to death.”
Two months ago two lions were found dead at the Hwange game reserve and
their deaths were attributed to Tuberculosis.
The lions were aged between 12 and 15.
https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2022/01/20/seven-elephants-found-dead-outside-hwange-national-park/
Seven elephants found dead outside Hwange National Park (Zimbabwe)
Nokuthaba Dlamini, VicFallsLive
January 20, 2022
See link
<https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2022/01/20/seven-elephants-found-dead-outside-hwange-national-park/>
for photo.
Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (Zimparks) rangers last
week stumbled on remains of seven elephants that are believed to have died
two months ago at the Ngamo Forest on the outskirts of the Hwange National
Park.
The cause of the death of the seven elephants, that included a bull and
calves, is not yet known.
Tinashe Farawo, the Zimparks spokesperson, told VicFallsLive on Thursday
that tests carried out so far showed that the elephants died about two
months ago.
“Our investigations are still ongoing, but the laboratory results ruled out
the suspicion of them dying from cyanide poisoning but we are still
exploring the possible causes of their deaths,” Farawo said.
“The seven deceased elephants were a family because there was a bull,
substandard ones and calves.”
Farawo said the decision to rule out cyanide of poisoning was influenced by
the fact that there were no other carnivores that died after consuming meat
from the affected elephants.
“Hyenas and vultures could’ve also immediately died because they fed on the
corpses but patrol officers did not come across any that had died, so we
suspect that they might have died from an infection which is still under
investigation,” he added.
“Their ivory was also still intact, so the other theory could be that they
succumbed to a natural cause because when elephants age, their teeth fall
off and at times their trunks could be faulty which affects their breeding
patterns causing some problems which eventually leads to death.”
Two months ago two lions were found dead at the Hwange game reserve and
their deaths were attributed to Tuberculosis.
The lions were aged between 12 and 15.
https://vicfallslive.co.zw/index.php/2022/01/20/seven-elephants-found-dead-outside-hwange-national-park/