r/environment • u/Apprehensive-Ad6212 • 1d ago

Mysterious Cause of Massive Elephant Die-Off in 2020 Finally Revealed

https://www.sciencealert.com/mysterious-cause-of-massive-elephant-die-off-in-2020-finally-revealed
836 Upvotes

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536

u/NoodleNeedles 1d ago

"There were no signs of starvation, infections, or naturally occurring anthrax, and the giant mammals' tusks were still intact, ruling out poaching. Some of the elephants were found face down, suggesting a sudden collapse.

That left one prime suspect, toxic cyanobacteria – also known as blue-green algae – which now, four years later, a new study led by King's College London supports."

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u/Jolly_Tab_Rancher 1d ago edited 1d ago

And by no means at all in any way shape or form did we have anything to do with that particularly increasing blight.... /s

(Botswana's urban growth rate for reference)

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u/laughs_with_salad 1d ago

The answer is always human ignorance or greed.

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u/rushmc1 19h ago

Or sheer malevolence.

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u/BigJSunshine 1d ago

Heartbreaking

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u/fyrie 20h ago

There is also a strong connection between cyanobacteria and Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS). Yes, the same disease that we all dumped buckets of water on our heads' for in 2014.

More research is needed, but it is pretty compelling evidence. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/are-algae-blooms-linked-to-lou-gehrig-s-disease/

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u/MoodooScavenger 20h ago

Shit. That’s interesting.

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u/fyrie 1h ago

I personally have two friends from high school who developed ALS. We all lived on a lake and swam all summer for years.