A total
of 537 vultures, along with two tawny eagles, were found dead at the site in
the north of the African country.
World | Agence France-Presse | Updated:
June 21, 2019 08:25 IST
GABORONE,
BOTSWANA:
More than
500 endangered vultures died of poisoning after eating the carcasses of three
elephants killed by poachers in Botswana, the government said in a statement.
A total
of 537 vultures, along with two tawny eagles, were found dead at the site in
the north of the African country.
The
Botswanan wildlife and national parks department did not say when the dead
vultures had been found or why the three elephants were laced with poison after
being killed.
But
poachers are known to poison carcasses to target vultures as the birds circle
in the sky and help rangers to track poaching activity.
Most of
the birds, 468 of them, were white-backed vultures, which are classified as
critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red
list of threatened species.
Also
among the dead were 17 white-headed vultures and 28 hooded vultures -- also
critically endangered.
"The
poisoning was believed to have been caused by lacing of three poached elephant
carcasses with a poisonous chemical," the wildlife department said.
Teams
decontaminated the area and samples were taken for laboratory analysis.
Conservationists
last week warned of surging elephant poaching in parts of Botswana and
estimated nearly 400 were killed for their ivory tusks in 2017 and 2018.
The
country recently sparked controversy by lifting its ban on hunting, saying it
would help control a booming elephant population that was damaging farmers'
livelihoods.
In 2016,
two lions and over 100 vultures in South Africa's Kruger National Park died
after eating a poisoned elephant carcass.
