Kenyan Farmers Question Cyanide Theory in Deaths of 15 Elephants

KIMANA, Kenya (AP) — The carcass of one elephant lies on a dusty road near Amboseli National Park. Another has been so thoroughly consumed by scavengers that only its skull remains. They are among 15 elephants that died in a single month in the Amboseli ecosystem, and investigators are still trying to determine how cyanide got into an area where farmland and wildlife overlap.

Preliminary tests detected cyanide in the elephants' stomach contents, and postmortem examinations found tomatoes in their systems. But growers in Kimana, one of Kenya's most productive agricultural zones, are disputing suggestions that tomatoes treated with cyanide caused the deaths.

Elvis Muchai has farmed on the edge of Amboseli for two decades. He said he has never heard of farmers poisoning wildlife and does not know of cyanide being sold to local growers. "We are used to the animals eating from our farms," he said. "The chemical they are talking about, we've never seen it or heard of it here."

The deaths have raised fresh concerns about human-wildlife conflict in a region where agriculture has expanded toward the park. Kenya has won broad recognition for rebuilding its elephant population from historic lows to more than 36,000 by curbing poaching and securing habitat. But as farms creep closer to the park boundary, the same elephants that symbolized that recovery are increasingly coming into conflict with people.

Dr. Isaac Lekolool, head of veterinary services at the Kenya Wildlife Service, said the animals showed signs of paralysis and difficulty breathing before they died. Tests pointed to cyanide, he said, and further laboratory work is underway to establish the concentration. "We are yet to find out where this cyanide came from," Lekolool said, adding that the elephants had also eaten watermelons. He urged caution in the handling and use of pesticides on farms.

Lekolool also dismissed earlier suggestions that cyanide, which is regulated for use in mining, may have come from illegal mining inside the park. Blood-sample analysis is still ongoing.

Kenya Wildlife Service communications director Duncan Juma ruled out human-wildlife conflict as a factor in the elephant deaths, saying "the community loves these animals." But elephants have regularly paid a price for conflict in Kenya. According to Kenya's National Elephant Plan, deaths linked to self-defense or retaliatory action are second only to poaching, with at least 1,160 elephants killed between 2000 and 2020 as communities tried to protect crops, property and lives.

For farmers, the losses are real. Muchai said elephants destroyed about half an acre of his tomato crop last season, costing him an estimated 500,000 Kenya shillings ($3,800). "We have lived with these animals for years. They eat our crops, and many of us have never received compensation," he said.

Another farmer, Rymondy Mrosso, questioned why local pesticides would affect only elephants. "We have goats, cows and other wildlife such as gazelles that also feed in these areas," he said. "If the crops were poisoned, why were only the elephants affected?"

The International Fund for Animal Welfare called for an urgent and thorough investigation and for stronger safeguards around toxic substances. "This tragedy also underscores the urgent need for the strict control and responsible handling of highly toxic substances to prevent them from entering the natural environment," said Ben Wandago, the group's East Africa director.

The episode is likely to intensify debate over how Amboseli's wildlife and its human neighbors can continue to share the landscape, especially as land pressures mount and compensation for crop losses remains uneven.