* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Thursday, July 3, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    Nantucket Dance Festival opens July 8 – The Inquirer and Mirror

    Nantucket Dance Festival Launches with Thrilling Performances Beginning July 8

    A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curse Netflix and YRF Entertainment’s ‘Mandala Murders’ Premieres July 25 – About Netflix

    A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curse: Dive into the Chilling World of ‘Mandala Murders’ Premiering July 25

    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Meiwu Technology Company Limited and Shenzhen Zhinuo – GlobeNewswire

    Meiwu Technology Company Limited and Shenzhen Zhinuo – GlobeNewswire

    Owls inspire new revolutionary noise reduction technology – KTEN

    Owls inspire new revolutionary noise reduction technology – KTEN

    New center coming to Mizzou will focus on energy research and technology – Columbia Missourian

    Mizzou Launches Innovative New Center Dedicated to Energy Research and Technology

    Mirrors in space and underwater curtains: can technology buy us enough time to save the Arctic ice caps? – The Guardian

    Can Technology Like Space Mirrors and Underwater Curtains Buy Us Time to Save the Arctic Ice Caps?

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

    Nantucket Dance Festival opens July 8 – The Inquirer and Mirror

    Nantucket Dance Festival Launches with Thrilling Performances Beginning July 8

    A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curse Netflix and YRF Entertainment’s ‘Mandala Murders’ Premieres July 25 – About Netflix

    A Secret Society, Ritualistic Killings, and a Century-Old Curse: Dive into the Chilling World of ‘Mandala Murders’ Premiering July 25

    Susquehanna Raises Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN) Price Target. – Yahoo Finance

    Susquehanna Raises Price Target for Penn Entertainment Inc. (PENN)

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    George Lopez is coming to Spokane – KXLY.com

    Netflix unveils Dallas immersive venue for fans of hit shows like ‘Squid Game,’ ‘Stranger Things’ – Houston Chronicle

    Step Inside Netflix’s New Dallas Immersive Experience Featuring Hits Like ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Stranger Things

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Inspira Technologies Secures Landmark $22.5M Deal: Major Revenue Breakthrough After FDA Clearance – Stock Titan

    Meiwu Technology Company Limited and Shenzhen Zhinuo – GlobeNewswire

    Meiwu Technology Company Limited and Shenzhen Zhinuo – GlobeNewswire

    Owls inspire new revolutionary noise reduction technology – KTEN

    Owls inspire new revolutionary noise reduction technology – KTEN

    New center coming to Mizzou will focus on energy research and technology – Columbia Missourian

    Mizzou Launches Innovative New Center Dedicated to Energy Research and Technology

    Mirrors in space and underwater curtains: can technology buy us enough time to save the Arctic ice caps? – The Guardian

    Can Technology Like Space Mirrors and Underwater Curtains Buy Us Time to Save the Arctic Ice Caps?

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Naples restaurant owner prepares for hurricane season with new flood technology – Fox4Now.com

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Hundreds of elephants mysteriously died. We may finally know why.

December 6, 2023
in Science
Hundreds of elephants mysteriously died. We may finally know why.
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

ByLaurel Neme

Published December 5, 2023

• 6 min read

When hundreds of African savanna elephants dropped dead in Botswana’s Okavango Delta in 2020, conservationists were alarmed. As the death toll rose—from dozens in March to more than 350 animals by July—their concerns increased, especially because nobody knew what was happening.

A short time later, the mystery deepened when 34 more individuals of the endangered species died across the border in northwestern Zimbabwe in a three-week period, with one more found in November.

“It was very quick,” says Chris Foggin, a veterinarian with Victoria Falls Wildlife Trust who examined the elephant carcasses in Zimbabwe. “That was what was so dramatic.”

African savanna elephants in the five-country Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, or KAZA, represent the majority of what’s left of that species, notes Steve Osofsky, director of the Cornell Wildlife Health Center in Ithaca, New York. Around 350,000 African savanna elephants remain, and given the already significant set of threats to their survival, “a new disease could be what tips that last domino towards extinction,” says Osofsky, who wasn’t involved in the new research.

In September 2020, the Botswana government attributed the deaths of elephants in the Okavango Delta to cyanobacteria in the water that elephants drank, although without data to support it, scientists have questioned this conclusion. Meanwhile, the Zimbabwe carcasses showed no evidence they died from those toxic algae.

And so, the cause of the die-offs continued to elude experts. They ruled out poaching because the tusks were intact, and they found no bullet wounds. Poisoning was unlikely because no other animals, such as vultures feeding on the carcasses, were affected. (Read about the search for answers in Botswana’s elephant deaths.)

Now, new research published recently in Nature Communications points to a different culprit, at least for the Zimbabwe elephants—a bacterium not previously found in elephants of any species, called Bisgaard taxon 45, that causes a massive systemic blood infection called septicemia.

Bisgaard taxon 45 is related to another bacterium, called Pasteurella multocida, that can cause septicemia in cattle and was linked to the death of 200,000 endangered saiga antelope in Kazakhstan in 2015. Yet while it shares many of the same lethal genes, Bisgaard taxon 45 is a separate species.

“It’s a disease we know can kill a reasonable number of elephants in a short space of time,” says Foggin, co-leader of the study. And “it has the potential to kill a lot more given the right circumstances.”

What those are, however, remains unknown—yet it’s pressing to find out. Aerial population surveys in KAZA in 2022 found a high number of new elephant carcasses.

Search for answers

Finding Bisgaard taxon 45 was no easy task. Scientists examined as many elephant carcasses as they could, first collecting only blood smears because of the possibility of anthrax, a highly communicable bacteria, and then conducting full postmortems on five elephants that had recently died.

The examination revealed the elephants had enlarged livers and spleens, as well as internal bleeding in multiple organs—signs of septicemia. While P. multocida was suspected, anomalies in the testing of blood and tissue samples prompted scientists to do additional genetic analysis, leading to the discovery of the different bacteria.

“Doing a postmortem exam on an elephant is tough under any circumstances. But when they’re in remote areas, where access is difficult, temperatures are high—it really is heroic work to get the types of diagnostic samples that yield these types of data,” Osofsky says.

Scientists don’t know how widespread Bisgaard taxon 45 is, or if the bacteria exist as normal flora within elephants and other animals. People bit by captive lions and tigers in the U.S. and U.K. have contracted the bacteria. Scientists have also recorded it in a pet chipmunk in Germany and in healthy captive parrots. (Learn how captive elephants can spread tuberculosis to people.)

“We’re assuming it’s probably present more frequently than we’ve known, without causing disease, but we don’t have proof of that,” Foggin says.

Bacteria often only turn deadly when “something special happens,” like the host has a weakened immune system, or it gets into the bloodstream through a wound, explains microbiologist Arnoud van Vliet, a study co-author and senior lecturer at the University of Surrey’s School of Veterinary Medicine in the U.K.

It’s possible environmental stressors, such as heat and lack of food and water, may have led Bisgaard taxon 45 to proliferate and cause the septicemia in the Zimbabwe elephants, says Foggin.

What’s next

With much of Africa predicted to get hotter and drier, the bacterium “could cause much worse mortalities down the line,” says Foggin. That’s why, he says, “it is important to keep monitoring elephant deaths and see if it’s responsible.”

But understanding where Bisgaard taxon 45 occurs and what triggers it will be tricky. If more incidents occur, scientists can look for trends in environmental conditions and other factors, says study co-leader Laura Rosen, an epidemiologist for the KAZA Animal Health Sub Working Group, which brings livestock and wildlife veterinarians together to manage transboundary animal disease. They can also look to its relative, P. multocida, for clues (See National Geographic’s elephant pictures.)

Yet many laboratories in the region aren’t equipped with enough resources to discern the differences between P. multocida and Bisgaard taxon 45, she says.

“It is not something anyone would’ve been looking for before,” Rosen says.

Meanwhile, Foggin has already started testing dead or anesthetized elephants on an opportunistic basis, as well as wild lions and other carnivores, for the presence of Bisgaard taxon 45. And he hopes others will do the same.

“It’s incumbent on all of us,” Osofsky adds, “to build on this study to try to fill in the gaps.”

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : National Geographic – https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/african-savanna-elephant-deaths-botswana-zimbabwe

Tags: Elephants'Hundredsscience
Previous Post

The best European ski destinations beyond the Alps

Next Post

Where to stay in Siem Reap, the gateway to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat

Stellantis Revives SRT: High-Performance Street and Racing Division Makes a Triumphant Return

July 3, 2025
Josh Hart Delivers Promise to Fans After Knicks’ Recent Move – Yahoo Sports

Josh Hart Delivers Promise to Fans After Knicks’ Recent Move – Yahoo Sports

July 3, 2025
LensToLens: Wetlands guard bird species from plateau to urban landscape – Xinhua

How Wetlands Safeguard Bird Species Across Plateaus and Urban Landscapes

July 3, 2025
Commentary: Vatican defends science from politics, ideology and misinformation – The Salt Lake Tribune

Vatican Takes a Bold Stand: Defending Science from Politics, Ideology, and Misinformation

July 2, 2025
Scientists Merged 3 Human Brains by Thought Alone – Popular Mechanics

Scientists Achieve Mind-Blowing Feat by Merging Three Human Brains Through Thought Alone

July 3, 2025
Retired woman shares inside look at lifestyle after moving into unconventional tiny home: ‘The best decision I’ve ever made’ – The Cool Down

Retired Woman Reveals Life-Changing Joys of Living in an Unconventional Tiny Home: “The Best Decision I’ve Ever Made

July 2, 2025
​​World Rural Development Day: Refugee-Led Farming Projects That Are Feeding the World – USA for UNHCR

​​World Rural Development Day: Refugee-Led Farming Projects That Are Feeding the World – USA for UNHCR

July 2, 2025
Trump’s economy: A weak link in MAGA’s chain – The Hill

Trump’s economy: A weak link in MAGA’s chain – The Hill

July 2, 2025
BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

BTS Announce Their Big Return and Yes, They Already Have Some Major Plans in the Works – Yahoo

July 2, 2025
About 17 Million More People Could be Uninsured due to the Big Beautiful Bill and other Policy Changes – KFF

How the Big Beautiful Bill and Policy Changes Could Leave 17 Million More People Uninsured

July 2, 2025

Categories

Archives

July 2025
MTWTFSS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Jun    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (702)
  • Economy (728)
  • Entertainment (21,616)
  • General (15,681)
  • Health (9,767)
  • Lifestyle (732)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (729)
  • Politics (735)
  • Science (15,946)
  • Sports (21,226)
  • Technology (15,712)
  • World (709)

Recent News

Stellantis Revives SRT: High-Performance Street and Racing Division Makes a Triumphant Return

July 3, 2025
Josh Hart Delivers Promise to Fans After Knicks’ Recent Move – Yahoo Sports

Josh Hart Delivers Promise to Fans After Knicks’ Recent Move – Yahoo Sports

July 3, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version