South African Experts's Botswana Elephant Statement Misleading-Botswana experts

Posted by Botswana Safari News on June 06, 2020 | No comments

The statement reportedly uttered by respected South African elephant expert Ron Thomson linking Okavango elephant deaths to overpopulation is ridiculous and misleading, according to elephant experts in Botswana. since May 11, Botswana's  Okavango panhandle has been experiencing mysterious elephant deaths. Almost a month later, authorities here are still struggling to identify the cause of deaths. 

Thomson is a qualified field ecologist who has 58 years of experience working in Africa’s national parks and management systems. Yesterday a tweet by Johannesburg based Environmental journalist, Emmanuel Kolo quoted Thomson saying he ruled out disease as the cause of deaths in Botswana. ‘Thomson says what he had long predicted is now happening –deaths caused by elephant overpopulation.’

In Botswana, experts have not been amused by Thomson’s statement. A leading veterinarian stated: ‘that’s an oversimplification. Overpopulation itself does not cause death. It leads to stress in individuals which makes them more susceptible to disease. Its these disease outbreaks that cause death. Until we know what the cause of all the deaths is, we will not be able to say it is related to overpopulation.’

Okavango Research Institute Professor of Tourism Studies Joseph explained that while he believes Botswana is overpopulated with elephants however, he does not agree with Thomson.

Regional wildlife coordinator Dimakatso Ntshebe rhetorically asked why the elephants would die during the green season while they did not die during the bad drought last year. Ntshebe does not as well agree that overpopulation is the cause of death as Thomson states.

Ntshebe added:’ what we believe is that the deaths are caused by a disease and we are investigating. We have sent samples for testing in South Africa and we are waiting for results. We continue to take more samples every day and send it to the veterinary lab for tests. Currently, we have theories on what could be the source of deaths and we continue to sample’ he said.

Meanwhile, Ntshebe stated that more than 130 elephants have died. However other sources state that the toll is now more than 160. Ntshebe revealed that the intensity of the discovery of the new carcasses has decreased adding that however, they continue to record new cases.