Elephants graze in Amboseli National Park in Kajiado, Kenya, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
NAIROBI – The death of 15 elephants in the span of a month in southern Kenya’s Amboseli National Park under unexplained circumstances has sparked outrage in the country, where wildlife tourism is an economic pillar.
The Kenya Wildlife Service said it was investigating the matter, and that preliminary findings raised concerns of poisoning.
“Never in the history of the park has there been 15 elephants dead, and likely from the same family, within a period of a month,” Kenya Wildlife Service spokesperson Duncan Juma said.
The elephants died between June 24 and July 24, and were discovered by rangers in different parts of the park, according to KWS.
“It was noticed while on patrol when one died and then when the family was followed closely, another elephant was found dead and then another, so we started vaccinating them and applying preventive measures,” Juma said. “Most of the dead were females with children.”
Ten of the dead elephants experienced partial paralysis and were unable to stand before death. Five carcasses were found partially decomposed, KWS said Wednesday.
“Some family members survived because there were interventions, and we doubt it was a contagious disease” that killed the others, said Juma, who did not say what steps the agency took to save some of the elephants.
The KWS statements said that preliminary findings by the University of Nairobi – KWS sent samples from the carcasses there, as well as to a government lab and additional independent facilities – detected “potential toxic substances.” But the government chemist, according to preliminary findings, has not found evidence of toxins, and investigations are ongoing.
Juma said KWS would investigate the elephants’ potential water sources and look for any other environmental factors.
Kimana Sanctuary and the Kuku ranch area in Amboseli, where the elephants were found dead, border farmlands, which sometimes prompt human-wildlife conflict. Commercial farmers in the area also use pesticides that can pollute water sources, Juma said.
In photos of the surviving herd shared by KWS, a dead elephant lies next to six elephants looking at the body.
One photo shows a deceased lone female elephant, while another picture, tagged 07/07, shows the dissected stomach of a dead elephant filled with partly digested food.
A video shows a female elephant lying on its side, struggling to get up, and in another, an elephant lies on its side amid tomato crops as villagers look on and wildlife officials douse it with water.
Amboseli is one of Kenya’s premier national parks, with an elephant population of a little under 2,000. Kenya is home to some 42,000 elephants.
Elephant populations around the globe have declined in recent decades due to poaching and habitat loss.
Kenya has pursued increasing conservation efforts, such as a poaching ban, ranger recruitment, remote-sensing technologies that monitor elephants in real time and GPS collaring, which has been attributed to a significant increase in the country’s elephant population.
Elephants can live for up to 70 years, and Kenya boasts some of the oldest living elephants, known as super tuskers – because of their huge tusks that weigh up to 99 pounds.
