Gaborone, Botswana: More than 500 endangered vultures died of poisoning after eating the carcasses of three elephants killed by poachers in Botswana, the government said in a statement.
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A total of 537 vultures, along with two tawny eagles, were found dead at the site in the north of the African country.
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The Botswanan wildlife and national parks department did not say when the dead vultures had been found or why the three elephants were laced with poison after being killed.
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But poachers are known to poison carcasses to target vultures as the birds circle in the sky and help rangers to track poaching activity.
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Most of the birds, 468 of them, were white-backed vultures, which are classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list of threatened species.
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Also among the dead were 17 white-headed vultures and 28 hooded vultures – also critically endangered.
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“The poisoning was believed to have been caused by lacing of three poached elephant carcasses with a poisonous chemical,” the wildlife department said.
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Teams decontaminated the area and samples were taken for laboratory analysis.
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Conservationists last week warned of surging elephant poaching in parts of Botswana and estimated nearly 400 were killed for their ivory tusks in 2017 and 2018.
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The country recently sparked controversy by lifting its ban on hunting, saying it would help control a booming elephant population that was damaging farmers’ livelihoods.
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In 2016, two lions and over 100 vultures in South Africa’s Kruger National Park died after eating a poisoned elephant carcass.