Kenya's mysterious elephant deaths prompt scrutiny of pesticide use
After 15 elephants were found dead near Amboseli National Park in Kenya, authorities suspect pesticide poisoning, but conservationists and farmers question the official explanation.
Officials in Kenya are investigating the deaths of 15 elephants found outside Amboseli National Park between 24 June and 24 July. Some of the animals showed partial paralysis, a sign that has been linked to cyanide poisoning from pesticides. Yet wildlife experts and local farmers say the picture may be more complicated.
The elephants were discovered in the Kimana area, a corridor between Amboseli and Tsavo national parks in southern Kenya. The region is part of the larger Amboseli ecosystem, near the Tanzanian border, where more than 2,000 elephants roam in search of food and water. Local landowners say they have never seen anything like this before. Daniel Nina, who represents some of them, told the BBC that people are wondering why it is happening now.
Kenya Wildlife Service chief veterinarian Isaac Lekolool said traces of cyanide were found in samples from the elephants' stomachs. He did not rule out deliberate poisoning, but said it was difficult to determine the exact cause, since such cases had not been seen before. The working theory is that the animals were exposed to pesticides sprayed on nearby tomato farms, possibly unintentionally during pest control.
A 2024 report by Kenyan food safety group Route to Food found a farmer in the Kimana area using an insecticide whose active ingredient was a cyanide compound. Report author Wangunyu Njuguna said that although such agrochemicals are illegal in Kenya, some are smuggled across the border from Tanzania. He said there is no enforcement of similar standards in the region and no checks on what people buy and bring across the border. Highly hazardous substances are common on Kenyan farms and have been linked to serious diseases, but enforcement is weak and little attention is paid to their effect on animals.
Several conservationists have questioned the official findings. Paula Kahumbu, a conservationist with nearly 30 years of experience with elephants, said the available information does not add up, noting that elephants would need to consume a huge amount to be lethal. Other experts, speaking anonymously, said the pesticide theory contradicts elephant behaviour: males are more likely to raid farms, yet only one of the 15 dead elephants was an adult male. Nina also noted that earlier poisoning cases in the area affected zebras and antelopes, not elephants.
Human-wildlife conflict has been a long-standing issue around Kenyan conservation areas. Tomato farmer Stephen Michael said elephants occasionally raid farms, and the last time they destroyed his cabbages and tomatoes, causing losses of almost $1,535 in cabbages alone. Frank Pope, CEO of Save the Elephants, said the main pressure on Amboseli's elephants is no longer ivory but land use. Farms and lodges are expanding into areas that were previously elephant habitat. Pope said people are moving into places with fertile soil and water, which are also the areas elephants tend to use.
The exact cause of the deaths remains unknown, and there are fears that both the remaining elephants and nearby communities could still be at risk.
