GABORONE – The sudden deaths of some 330 elephants in northwestern Botswana earlier this year may have occurred because they drank water contaminated by toxic blue-green algae, the government announced Monday.
The unexplained deaths ceased after the water pans dried up, said Taolo, in a press conference in Gaborone, the capital.
No other wildlife species were affected by the toxic water in the Seronga area, close to Botswana's famed Okavango Delta, said Taolo.
The deaths happened mainly near seasonal water pans and did not spread beyond the initially affected region, he said.
He, however, could not explain why these toxins did not affect any other animals drinking the affected water.