In a wildlife conservancy in Kenya in East Africa, 15 elephants are believed to have died in a mass fatality after eating tomatoes tainted with the highly toxic substance cyanide, also known as "cheongsan-gari."
According to reports by AP and other foreign media on the 29th (local time), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said it confirmed such a toxic reaction after a detailed analysis of recently deceased elephant carcasses.
Erustus Kanga, director general of the Kenya Wildlife Service, said, "Laboratory investigations detected a lethal cyanide compound in the bodies," and noted, "This compound can be deadly even in very small amounts and is especially dangerous to elephants."
He continued to warn that because the area is used not only by wildlife but also by local residents as grazing land for livestock such as cattle and goats, toxic contamination could spread across the entire ecosystem and trigger a bigger disaster.
Cyanide is a general term for compounds containing the cyano group (-C≡N), a carbon-nitrogen triple bond, such as potassium cyanide (KCN), sodium cyanide (NaCN), calcium cyanide (Ca(CN)₂), and hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Among these, potassium cyanide is widely known by the Japanese term "cheongsan-gari."
Beginning on June 24 and for a month, elephant carcasses were found one after another in the Kimana Conservancy and Kuku Ranch areas around Amboseli National Park near the border with Tanzania. Located on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, the area is a corridor for countless wild animals.
Of the dead animals, 10 had partial paralysis and died within a day or two, unable to stand properly, while the other 5 were so severely decomposed or scavenged by other predators that it was difficult to determine the exact cause. Among the affected herd, only one was a fully grown male, and the rest were all females or young calves.
The wildlife service remains cautious about who is responsible for the poisoning and whether it was intentional. However, in the region, there have been frequent cases of farmers deliberately setting out poisoned food to drive away crop-raiding elephants, and of poachers targeting ivory abusing toxic substances. Cyanide, once widely used in pesticides and the like, is now completely banned.
According to environmental groups' surveys, more than 2,000 elephants live in the area, making it urgent to put in place measures to prevent further damage.