Kenya’s Wildlife Service (KWS) said 10 of the elephants showed signs of partial paralysis before dying within two days; the remaining five carcasses were too decomposed or had been scavenged, making it impossible to determine the cause of death.

Most Victims Were Females and Calves

Most of those affected were female elephants and their calves, with only one male among the dead — the deaths occurred in the Kimana sanctuary and Kuku ranch areas surrounding the park, officials said.

Preliminary Tests Show Mixed Results

Preliminary tests on samples collected from the elephants by a laboratory at the University of Nairobi detected a “potential toxic substance,” while separate analyses by a government laboratory were negative for the toxins tested. KWS said further tests are under way.

“Environmental investigations are also being undertaken, including the analysis of water sources and other potential environmental contaminants within the affected areas, to establish whether the elephants were exposed to a common source,” the authority said in a statement.

Authorities Reassure Public

The authorities sought to reassure the public, saying there was no evidence the condition could be transmitted to humans, as Amboseli is world-renowned for its herds of elephants and its savannah settings, with Kilimanjaro visible across the border in Tanzania.

It is estimated there are about 2,000 elephants in the park. Officials say this is the first time in decades that elephant mortalities on this scale have been recorded in the region, where they have successfully cracked down on poaching.

Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict, as the carcasses include elephants of different ages and sexes, suggesting the deaths are not limited to a single family or demographic.

The wildlife agency’s head of communication, Duncan Wanyama, told local media the bodies had been found at different locations surrounding the Amboseli National Park, around 15km (nine miles) to 30km from its boundaries.