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Botswana Blames Poisonous Algae for Elephant Deaths

博茨瓦纳将大象死亡归咎于蓝藻中毒

By Ashley Thompson
22 September 2020

The deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana earlier this year may have been the result of the animals drinking water containing poisonous blue-green algae. Algae are simple plants with no leaves or stems that grow in or near water.
今年年初博茨瓦纳数百只大象的死亡可能是因为喝了含有有毒蓝藻的水所致。藻类是一种没有茎叶的简单植物，它生长在水中或附近。

About 330 elephants in the northwestern Seronga area died from a neurological condition. The cause appeared to be drinking toxic water, said Cyril Taolo. He is acting director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. A toxic flowering of "cyanobacterium" was found in seasonal water sources in the area.
该国西北部的赛隆加地区大约有330头大象死于一种神经系统疾病。西里尔·陶洛称原因似乎是喝了有毒的水。陶洛是该国野生动物及国家公园部代理部长。在该地区的季节性水洼中发现了“蓝藻”的有毒花朵。

Botswana's government announced the finding Monday.
博茨瓦纳政府周一公布了这一发现。

The unexplained deaths stopped after the water sources, or pans, dried up, Taolo told reporters in Botswana's capital of Gaborone.
陶洛在博茨瓦纳首都哈博罗内对记者表示，在水洼干涸之后，大象这种无法解释的死亡也就停止了。

The Seronga area is close to Botswana's famous Okavango Delta.
赛隆加地区邻近博茨瓦纳著名的奥卡万戈三角洲。

No other wildlife species were affected by the toxic water. Even animals like hyenas and vultures that were observed feeding on the elephant bodies showed no signs of illness, Taolo said.
其它野生动植物没有受到有毒水的影响。陶洛表示，甚至可以看到以象牙为食的鬣狗和秃鹰等动物也没有患病迹象。

Botswana has the world's largest elephant population. An estimated 130,000 elephants can be found in the country. The animals bring many international tourists to Botswana.
博茨瓦纳拥有全球最大的大象种群。该国估计有13万头大象。这些动物给博茨瓦纳带来了许多国际游客。

Both male and female elephants of all ages died. The deaths happened mainly near seasonal water pans. The incidents did not spread outside the affected area, Taolo said.
各年龄段的雄性和雌性大象都有死亡。这些死亡事件主要发生在季节性水洼附近。这些事件并未扩散到受影响地区以外。

After the mysterious deaths of the elephants, the government carried out extensive tests. The aim was to find out why the animals had died. The test results suggested that the elephants died from cyanobacterium, or blue-green algae, poisoning.
在大象神秘死亡之后，该国政府进行了广泛的检测。目的是找出这些动物为什么会死亡。检测结果表明大象死于蓝藻中毒。

Taolo said neurotoxins from cyanobacteria living in affected water could have affected the brain signals of an animal. This might have caused paralysis and death, mostly related to breathing failure.
陶洛表示蓝藻中的神经毒素可能影响到了动物的大脑信号。这可能会导致主要跟呼吸衰竭有关的瘫痪和死亡。

However, Taolo could not explain why the toxins did not affect any other animals drinking the affected water. He also said that there was no evidence of human efforts to kill the elephants through poisoning, hunting or other methods.
然而，陶洛无法解释为什么这些毒素不会影响到同样饮用这些水的其它动物。他还表示，没有证据表明人类通过投毒、狩猎或其它方法杀死大象。

Talo said the government will immediately put in place a plan to examine seasonal water sources often. It will create methods for measuring and testing for toxins produced by cyanobacteria.
陶洛表示，政府将立即制定一项计划，经常检查季节性水源。它将创建测量和检测蓝藻产生的毒素的办法。

I'm Ashley Thompson.
我是阿什利·汤普森。

Words in This Story

neurological –adj. related to the nervous system which includes the brain, spinal cord and nerves

toxic –adj. containing a poisonous substance

source –n. the beginning of a river or stream, a place where water can be found

delta –n. a triangular area on a river where it widens and usually flows into the ocean

tourist –n. a person who travels for pleasure

paralysis –n. the inability to move a limb or body

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