“The river system dries up and animals are in a compromised situation,” said Lesego Moseki, spokesperson for the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) in Botswana’s capital Gaborone.
Botswana is home to one of the world’s largest populations of hippos living in the wild, estimated at between 2,000 and 4,000 by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
“The riverine vegetation is poor and the hippo in Ngamiland (northwestern district) depend on the water flowing through the Okavango Delta systems,” Moseki added.
They were still looking into how many hippos had died in the pools, he said.
Hippos have thick but sensitive skin, meaning they need to bathe regularly to avoid sunburn and usually live in humid areas.
Without water, they can become aggressive and approach villages. Local authorities are calling for hippos to be relocated to reserves to avoid conflict with humans.
El Nino is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, leading to drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere.
