Poachers have killed 87 elephants in Botswana over the course of recent months, according to National Geographic. Botswana has a reputation for being one of the African continent’s most elephant-friendly countries, making the news a source of great anguish for elephant conservationists.
The nonprofit Elephants Without Borders first discovered the elephant carcasses in the UNESCO World Heritage region of the Okavango Delta. In comparison to those of other African countries, Botswana’s elephants have survived the recent poaching crisis relatively unscathed. The news of the dead elephants suggests that ivory poachers are newly targeting the country’s elephants.
Botswana’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks disputed the number, claiming that only 53 elephants were found dead and not all of them had been killed. The government’s number still represents a major increase from the nine found dead in 2014. Botswana is currently home to more than 130,000 savanna elephants.
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