World
Did toxic algae kill hundreds of elephants in Botswana?
An investigation into the sudden deaths of at least 350 elephants in Botswana in 2020 has revealed the cause was almost certainly a “toxic brew” of open water tainted by a species of cyanobacteria that released cyanotoxins, essentially contaminating the elephants’ watering holes.
According to researchers, approximately 20 watering holes in Botswana’s Okavango Delta had been contaminated across roughly 6,000sq km (2,316 square miles).
So what happened, and how?
What is cyanobacteria and how does it harm elephants?
Although not all cyanobacteria, commonly referred to as blue-green algae, is toxic, some cyanobacteria can produce a type of deadly algal blooms (HABs) in standing water. This is the type which was discovered in the investigation carried out by researchers at King’s College London.
The study showed that the African elephants (Loxodonta africana) died in May and June 2020 after drinking from water holes contaminated with these toxic algal blooms.
“Scientists believe that the production of cyanotoxins is related to certain environmental triggers, for example, sudden rise in water temperature, nutrient loading, salinity,” Davide Lomeo, Earth observation scientist at King’s College London, a collaborator with Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the Natural History Museum in London, and lead researcher in the recent study, told Al Jazeera.
How did the elephant deaths come to light?
In early to mid-2020, a series of routine aerial surveys conducted by helicopter by the conservation organisation, Elephants Without Borders, revealed multiple elephant carcasses scattered across the landscape of the Ngamiland district of northern Botswana.
The aerial survey showed 161 elephant carcasses and 222 sets of bones, while also counting 2,682 live elephants throughout the eastern region of the Okavango Panhandle. In addition, the distance between the dead elephants indicated the deaths had been sudden, rather than gradual.
“The strong clustering of carcasses also suggests that the event was sudden, with limited dispersal of elephants prior to death,” the authors of the study said.
How did researchers identify toxic algae as the cause of death?
Before researchers confirmed it was toxic algae which killed the elephants, they had to rule out several other probable causes.
“Although this area is a known poaching hotspot in Botswana, this was ruled out since elephant carcasses were found with tusks intact,” the authors of the study said.
Other initial theories included virulent and bacterial causes, such as encephalomyocarditis virus or anthrax, but the evidence taken from the field – such as the age of the dead elephants and the absence of any clinical signs of disease, meant the researchers ruled these out as the cause.
The distribution of carcasses and bones suggested a unique “spatial pattern”, which indicated that localised factors may have played a role in the mass die-off. This led to further exploration of specific environmental and ecological conditions in the affected areas.
There were several other factors that served as evidence that the elephant watering holes were to blame. Using satellite photos, researchers measured the distance the elephants walked after they drank from the watering holes – an average of 16.5km (10.2 miles). Many of the elephants died shortly thereafter, roughly 3.6 days (88 hours), after they drank from the nearby contaminated water holes.
The report states that 88 hours aligned with previously reported toxicological timelines for other large mammals which have died from blue algal poisoning.
In addition, Lomeo’s previous body of doctoral work investigating the history of mass-mortality events and water quality in waterbodies in Africa served as evidence to further look into the theory of water hole contamination.
“This event was what led to this idea, since it was a well-covered news at the time, but no one really knew why they died. I then applied my skills in geospatial and computational data science to investigate the event under a well-known set of methods typically applied in epidemiological investigations (eg COVID-19),” explained Lomeo.
What is still unknown about the elephant deaths?
It is impossible to measure the level of toxicity for each waterhole from aerial photos. In addition, it is unclear whether elephants drank from one watering hole or several, according to researchers.
“It is highly likely that they drank from multiple pans before their death. It cannot be established if the fatal intoxication occurred in a single drinking event, but it seems more plausible that if cyanotoxins were present and were the cause of the die-off, this was through toxins bioaccumulation in elephants’ organs,” stated the study.
Although it is clear that the toxic waterholes were the likely source of the elephants’ mass mortality, there remains some uncertainty about the findings due to the timing of the mass die-off.
“The event occurred during the COVID-19 movement restrictions, and timely intervention was not possible. Therefore, tissue samples [which would have confirmed the presence/ absence of cyanotoxins] were not collected. Post-mortem investigations also need to be done within a certain timeframe, beyond which samples would be too degraded. Additionally, cyanotoxins cannot be detected from satellites, so the links can only be but indirect,” Lomeo explained.
As the aerial data was collected considerable time after the deaths in March and May 2020 – researchers could not definitively rule out the involvement of other animals in the elephant deaths.
Furthermore, smaller creatures may have been missed in the aerial survey, potentially limiting scientists’ understanding of the full scope of the incident.
“The area is well-known for very high predation rates, meaning that animal carcasses disappear quickly because of scavengers like hyenas and vultures. Hence, the involvement of other animals cannot be ruled out,” Lomeo said.
The specific conditions that would produce the level of toxicity in a watering hole that would be lethal to surrounding animal species are also still unknown.
“There is still uncertainty. We know that certain cyanobacteria species are more likely to produce cyanotoxins, and we know which toxins each species typically produces,” said Lomeo.
According to the research, cyanotoxins exhibit significant variations in their potency and effects. Certain types are extremely toxic, capable of causing death even in very small concentrations. Others, while less immediately dangerous, may still pose health risks at higher levels without necessarily being lethal. The field of cyanotoxin research remains active, with many aspects yet to be fully understood and explored.
Despite this, the overall findings of the study have been widely accepted. “The cause of the die-off has been officially attributed by the Government of Botswana to environmental intoxication by cyanobacterial toxins, also known as cyanotoxins,” the study’s authors said.
Could this happen again?
Although mass deaths of elephants are rare, researchers cannot be certain it will not happen again and that it will only affect elephants or land animals.
“[In] all arid systems where animals are dependent on stagnant water in lakes/ponds are susceptible to this [mass die-offs], the aquatic life in lakes also can be harmed in this same manner. We have even seen this in rivers and oceans where high nitrification from agricultural run-off combined with warming temperatures leads to disastrous bacterial blooms,” George Wittemyer, a behavioural ecologist at Colorado State University, one of the institutes involved in a study in Kenya that revealed that elephants use individual names, told Al Jazeera.
While it was relatively easy for researchers to identify the elephant carcasses from the air due to their size, the sudden deaths of smaller animals might not be so easy to identify.
The ex-Bolivian president is on trial for allegedly fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office.
Published On 12 May 2026
A Bolivian judge has found former President Evo Morales in contempt of court and reissued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to turn up for the start of his trial on charges of trafficking a minor.
The ruling on Monday renewed tensions in the South American country, with supporters of Morales warning they would “throw the country into turmoil” if the former leader is arrested.
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Morales, who is Bolivia’s first Indigenous president, is accused of fathering a child with a 15-year-old girl while in office. The parents of the teen are accused of consenting to the relationship in exchange for favours from Morales.
The former socialist leader, who governed from 2006 to 2019, has rejected the accusations.
Morales did not attend the scheduled start of his trial on Monday in the southern city of Tarija, forcing the proceedings to be suspended.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Morales’s “unjustified absence” confirmed his fugitive status and warranted an arrest order as well as a travel ban.
The former president has been hiding from the law in his central coca-growing stronghold of Chapare since late 2024, guarded by Indigenous supporters who have promised to resist any attempt to capture him.
‘Ready for battle’
“They think that by arresting Evo Morales, they will succeed in quelling and demobilising the movement. They are very much mistaken,” supporter Dieter Mendoza said on Kawsachun Coca radio on Monday. “If they touch Evo Morales, this will cause an upheaval … There will be an insurgency across Bolivia.”
Mendoza urged residents of the Cochabamba Tropics to remain on “high alert” and “ready for battle”.
Authorities first issued an arrest warrant for Morales in October 2024, but could not execute it after his supporters blocked roads for 24 days, preventing officers from reaching the region where he remains sheltered.
Morales was already declared in contempt of court in January 2025, when he did not show for a pretrial detention hearing.
Wilfredo Chavez, one of his lawyers, told the AFP news agency on Friday that neither Morales nor his lawyers would show up in court, as they had not been “properly notified”. The lawyer said the court did not send the summons to Morales’s address, but had instead served it through an edict.
Morales, who rose from dire poverty to become one of Latin America’s longest-serving leaders, has slammed those “that persecute me and condemn me in record time”.
His refusal to give up power in 2019 after three terms led to a tumultuous exit that cast a shadow over nearly 14 years of economic progress and poverty reduction.
Forced to resign after elections tainted by fraud, he slipped away into exile in Mexico and later Argentina, but returned home a year later.
He failed to make a comeback last year after being barred from seeking a fourth term in presidential elections.
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A massive ruby unearthed in Burma is being hailed as the second-largest ever discovered in the conflict-ridden country.
The ruby weighs about 11,000 carats — about 4.8 pounds — and was unearthed near Mogok in the Mandalay region, the center of Burma’s gem industry and an area affected by ongoing conflict, according to The Associated Press, citing state media.
The stone was found in mid-April, shortly after the country’s traditional New Year celebrations.
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Burma’s newly discovered ruby is displayed at the president’s office in Naypyitaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Although it is roughly half the size of a 21,450-carat ruby discovered in 1996, experts say the new find could be more valuable because of its higher quality, the outlet reported.
It has a purplish-red color with slight yellow tones, moderate transparency and a highly reflective surface.
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing and his cabinet have already inspected the stone in the country’s capital of Naypyidaw.
ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY TREASURES DATING BACK 4,500 YEARS UNEARTHED IN LEGENDARY CITY
Burmese officials inspect a newly discovered ruby at the president’s office in Naypyidaw on May 7, 2026. (Myanmar Military True News Information Team/AP)
Burma produces up to 90% of the world’s rubies, mostly from Mogok and nearby Mong Hsu.
The gem trade — both legal and illegal — is a major source of income in the country.
However, rights groups, including Global Witness, have long urged jewelers to avoid buying Burmese gemstones, saying the trade helps fund the country’s military governments, according to The Associated Press.
RARE 10-CARAT BLUE DIAMOND AMONG $100M WORTH OF GEMS GOING UP FOR AUCTION
This photo taken on May 16, 2019, shows miners working in a ruby mine in Mogok, north of Mandalay. (Ye Aung Thu/AFP via Getty Images)
Gem mining also finances ethnic armed groups fighting for autonomy, contributing to Burma’s long-running conflicts.
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The mining regions remain unstable.
Mogok was seized in July 2024 by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ethnic armed group. Control later returned to the military under a ceasefire deal brokered by China late last year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The European Union is still struggling to decide if, how, and when it wants to talk directly with Russia to advance negotiations towards a lasting peace in Ukraine, as member states remain split on whether the benefits would outweigh the risks.
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The absence of political unity, an indispensable precondition for such a significant undertaking, was laid bare on Monday during a meeting of foreign affairs ministers in Brussels, where several representatives urged fresh sanctions rather than dialogue.
“(Vladimir) Putin is really not interested in real peace talks yet. So we need to put more pressure on Russia in order to change the calculus and make him interested,” Sweden’s Maria Malmer Stenergard said upon arrival.
“What will we discuss? What will be our demands? Can we agree on our demands on Russia?” said Lithuania’s Kęstutis Budrys. “What is our strategy and agenda, and what’s the goal? What’s the end state? It’s not dialogue as dialogue per se.”
Italy’s Antonio Tajani said the EU was “not at war” with Russia and it was “important” to be part of the ongoing negotiations, while Austria’s Beate Meinl-Reisinger noted it was time for Europeans to become active participants through their own team.
“We need to make up our mind,” said Finland’s Elina Valtonen.
The only point on which ministers agreed was that Europeans themselves should pick their envoy. The Kremlin’s suggestion to nominate Gerhard Schröder, the former German chancellor who has worked for Russian energy firms, was unequivocally dismissed.
At the end of the meeting, High Representative Kaja Kallas acknowledged that the topic was not yet mature and required further reflection among governments.
“The EU has always supported attempts to achieve a just and lasting peace,” Kallas said.
“For Europe to take a more active role, we must agree amongst ourselves what we want to talk to Russia about and what our red lines are.”
The High Representative, who previously said the EU should not “humiliate” itself by seeking direct talks with Russia, has been trying to bridge gaps among capitals with a draft document outlining the concessions Moscow should make.
The confidential document will be discussed later this month when foreign ministers meet again for an informal gathering in Cyprus. However, given the considerable divergences, a unified position is unlikely to emerge any time soon.
“We are not there entering the negotiations in any way,” Kallas cautioned. “Right now, we don’t see that Russia is really negotiating in good faith.”
If, how and when
The question of whether the EU should engage directly with Russia to end its war of aggression has been popping up in and out of the conversation since US President Donald Trump unilaterally launched a diplomatic process to end the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this year, French President Emmanuel Macron, who last spoke with Putin in July 2025, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni publicly called on the bloc to change policy, arguing the fate of European security could not be left in American hands.
The debate lost traction after Macron’s advisor, Emmanuel Bonne, travelled to the Kremlin for exploratory talks and was given the cold shoulder.
But it has once again risen to prominence as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, which has shifted Washington’s focus and slowed down the mediation in Ukraine.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who seems increasingly frustrated with the White House’s course of action, asked Europeans to take a more active role.
“We need to find a workable diplomatic format, and Europe must be at the table in any talks with Russia,” Zelenskyy said at a summit in Armenia. “It would be good to develop one common European voice for talks with Russia.”
A few days later, European Council President António Costa said there was “potential” for the bloc to negotiate one-on-one with the Kremlin.
“I’m talking with the 27 national leaders to see the best way to organise ourselves and to identify what we need effectively to discuss with Russia when it comes to the right moment to do this,” Costa said in Florence, Italy.
The European Commission also weighed in. “We can see the merit of having one single figure speaking on behalf of the 27,” a spokesperson said.
Both Costa and the Commission were quick to note that direct talks would only make sense once the Kremlin showed willingness to compromise and make concessions. Putin insists that Kyiv give up the entire Donbas region and that the West recognise the occupied territories aslegally Russian — both demands that Zelenskyy firmly rejects.
Brussels is keen to avoid creating the impression that it is attempting to replace Washington, which might give Trump a reason to walk away for good.
On Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said the EU should not pursue “alternative peace talks” but rather play a “complementary” role in the ongoing process.
Russia’s relentless bombardment of Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure, including a kindergarten last week, is another factor that makes officials and diplomats think twice.
Instead, some capitals prefer to wait and weaken Russia’s hand at the negotiating table. The country has begun to show signs of economic strain after 20 rounds of sanctions and was forced to pare down its Victory Day parade over fears of Ukraine’s strikes.
At the same time, Kyiv’s standing has been reinforced by the approval of the EU’s €90 billion assistance loan and the signing of multiple defence deals with Gulf countries.
“Russia must be pushed back to Russia,” Estonia’s Margus Tsahkna said. “Putin is not ready to talk about a lasting and just peace at all.”
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