Mysterious elephant deaths in Kenya raise questions around pesticides
A wave of Kenyan elephant deaths has been blamed on pesticides, but experts tell the BBC they are doubtful.
The recent deaths of 15 elephants in Kenya have sparked concern and debate, with initial reports suggesting pesticides used on tomato crops near Amboseli National Park as a possible cause.
Between June 24 and July 24, some of the deceased elephants exhibited signs of "partial paralysis," which the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) indicated could point to poisoning from cyanide, a component found in certain pesticides.
However, conservationists and local farmers have expressed skepticism regarding this explanation. Daniel Nina, representing landowners in the area, told the BBC, "We have stayed with this wildlife for decades and have never experienced this. So that's why we are wondering why it is happening today."
The tomato farms are situated in the Kimana area, a vital corridor connecting Amboseli National Park and Tsavo National Park in southern Kenya. This expansive region, known as the Amboseli ecosystem, borders Tanzania and is traversed by over 2,000 elephants seeking food and water. The farms flourish due to streams from Mount Kilimanjaro and supply markets in Nairobi and beyond.
Dr. Isaac Lekolool, KWS's chief vet, confirmed the presence of cyanide traces in samples from the elephants' stomachs. While not ruling out deliberate poisoning, he stated that determining the exact cause of death is currently impossible. "It's difficult to tell because we've not seen these kind of cases before. It is almost like a one-off, and it was within a period of about a month," Lekolool explained.
The KWS's working theory is that the elephants were unintentionally exposed to the toxin through pesticides sprayed on nearby tomato farms. Lekolool suggested, "It could be unintentional. Maybe people are trying to do some controls of pests on their crops, and that could have been maybe a source."
A 2024 report by the Kenyan food safety initiative Route to Food identified a farmer in Kimana using an insecticide containing a "chemical compound of cyanide" as an "active ingredient." Wangunyu Njuguna, the report's author, noted that despite being illegal in Kenya, some toxic agrochemicals are smuggled across the Tanzanian border due to lax enforcement of standards.
However, several wildlife conservationists have challenged the KWS's initial findings. Paula Kahumbu, a renowned conservationist with nearly 30 years of experience with elephants, stated, "We haven't got enough detailed information to have confidence in this claim that it's due to pesticides in crops." She added, "Some information has been released to the public but it's not adding up. Those elephants have to eat a huge amount to kill them."
Other unnamed experts found the pesticide theory inconsistent with elephant behavior, noting that male elephants, who are more prone to taking risks and raiding farms, accounted for only one of the 15 affected elephants. Nina also pointed out that previous poisoning incidents in the area had impacted zebras and antelopes, which graze in the same locations. "How does cyanide kill the elephants and leave behind the zebras, antelopes and wildebeests, which are eating the grass together?" he questioned.
Human-wildlife conflict is a long-standing issue in communities near conservation areas in Kenya. Stephen Michael, a tomato farmer in Kimana, shared that elephants and giraffes frequently raid farms, causing significant damage. "Elephants come from time to time from Tsavo and Amboseli. They destroy many farms, not just mine," Michael said, recounting a loss of nearly $1,535 in cabbages alone from a recent raid.
Frank Pope, CEO of Save the Elephants, highlighted that the primary threat to Amboseli's elephants is no longer ivory but "land use." He explained that the expansion of farms and lodges into areas historically used by elephants intensifies human-wildlife conflict. "People are moving into areas where there's enough water to grow crops, and fertile soils, and those are the very areas that the elephants tend to use as well."
The exact cause of the elephant deaths remains unknown, raising concerns about the safety of both the remaining elephant population and the local human communities.