[ti:Botswana Blames Poisonous Algae for Elephant Deaths] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The deaths of hundreds of elephants in Botswana earlier this year [00:05.96]may have been the result of the animals drinking water [00:10.32]containing poisonous blue-green algae. [00:14.48]Algae are simple plants with no leaves or stems [00:18.44]that grow in or near water. [00:21.76]About 330 elephants in the northwestern Seronga area [00:27.96]died from a neurological condition. [00:31.92]The cause appeared to be drinking toxic water, said Cyril Taolo. [00:38.36]He is acting director of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks. [00:45.60]A toxic flowering of "cyanobacterium" [00:49.56]was found in seasonal water sources in the area. [00:54.76]Botswana's government announced the finding Monday. [00:59.00]The unexplained deaths stopped after the water sources, or pans, [01:04.52]dried up, Taolo told reporters in Botswana's capital of Gaborone. [01:11.24]The Seronga area is close to Botswana's famous Okavango Delta. [01:18.12]No other wildlife species were affected by the toxic water. [01:23.64]Even animals like hyenas and vultures that were observed [01:27.92]feeding on the elephant bodies showed no signs of illness, Taolo said. [01:34.28]Botswana has the world's largest elephant population. [01:38.60]An estimated 130,000 elephants can be found in the country. [01:45.08]The animals bring many international tourists to Botswana. [01:50.88]Both male and female elephants of all ages died. [01:55.56]The deaths happened mainly near seasonal water pans. [02:00.88]The incidents did not spread outside the affected area, Taolo said. [02:07.60]After the mysterious deaths of the elephants, [02:10.60]the government carried out extensive tests. [02:14.36]The aim was to find out why the animals had died. [02:18.64]The test results suggested that the elephants died [02:22.84]from cyanobacterium, or blue-green algae, poisoning. [02:28.32]Taolo said neurotoxins from cyanobacteria living in affected water [02:34.56]could have affected the brain signals of an animal. [02:38.24]This might have caused paralysis and death, [02:42.00]mostly related to breathing failure. [02:46.16]However, Taolo could not explain why the toxins [02:49.92]did not affect any other animals drinking the affected water. [02:55.52]He also said that there was no evidence of human efforts [02:59.24]to kill the elephants through poisoning, hunting or other methods. [03:04.76]Talo said the government will immediately put in place a plan [03:09.64]to examine seasonal water sources often. [03:13.28]It will create methods for measuring and testing for toxins [03:17.72]produced by cyanobacteria. [03:21.24]I'm Ashley Thompson. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM