An elephant that died from a human strain of tuberculosis is being regarded as patient zero in the latest threat to face the Kruger National Park's wildlife.
The discovery of the carcass of an elephant bull in the park in March last year has veterinary experts puzzled about how the animal contracted the respiratory disease which in humans is spread by close contact.The latest threat to Kruger's elephants comes on top of an upsurge in poaching.
Since the human strain was discovered in the animal, a moratorium on the sale of Kruger wildlife has been in place while veterinary detectives try to establish whether the infection has spread.
South African National Parks spokesman Isaac Phaahla said the case was "extremely unusual".
"The elephant was found near Tshokwane and when it was examined it had lesions consistent with TB. Samples were taken and the culture results confirmed that it was human TB," he said.
"This is also the first time that any form of TB has been diagnosed in a wild elephant in the Kruger National Park," Phaahla said.
He said experts speculated that direct human contact with the dead elephant was unlikely. It was possible that the animal had ventured from the park and had gone through rubbish or waste and contracted the disease.In Kruger alone this year, 30 elephants have been killed by poachers - an average of nearly one a week. This is on the back of figures that show poaching almost doubled from 24 incidents in 2015 to 46 last year...