Nairobi. Fifteen elephants died in Kenya's Amboseli ecosystem between June 24 and July 24, with preliminary tests detecting a possible toxic substance in samples from several animals, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said in a statement issued late on Tuesday.
The wider Amboseli ecosystem includes the national park and surrounding community land in southern Kenya near the Tanzanian border. It provides habitat and migration routes for elephants and other wildlife beneath Mount Kilimanjaro.
KWS said 10 elephants showed similar symptoms, including partial paralysis that left them unable to stand before dying within one or two days.
The deaths were recorded in Amboseli National Park, Kimana Sanctuary and the Kuku Ranch area.
The condition mainly affected adult females and calves, with only one adult male among the reported cases.
KWS said it could not determine the cause of death for five carcasses because they were too decomposed or had been scavenged.
Preliminary analysis by the University of Nairobi detected a possible toxic substance, although further tests are needed to establish its concentration, significance and source.
Initial tests by the government chemist found no evidence of the toxins examined, while further analysis for other possible toxins is ongoing.
Authorities are also testing water sources and other potential environmental contaminants to determine whether the elephants were exposed to a common source.
"Importantly, there is no evidence that this incident poses any risk to human health," KWS said, adding that the condition was limited to the affected elephants and showed no indication of being transmissible to humans.
