The worrisome deaths were recorded at Hwange National Park, which is home to some 45,000 of Zimbabwe’s 100,000 elephant population.

Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Authority Spokesperson Tinashe Farawo told DownToEarth that not only elephants but also other wildlife species had succumbed to the just-ended drought condition.

The dry season was expected to end around October, but instead, it persisted for another eight weeks (until the end of December) due to the El Niño weather phenomenon brought about by global warming.

The drought conditions had earlier prompted a mass movement of elephants from Hwange into neighboring Botswana in a search for water and food.

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