Context: Recently, an investigations have shown that neuro-toxins in water produced by cyanobacteria killed more than 300 elephants in Botswana this year.

• Neuro-toxins are substances that damage, destroy, or impair the functioning of neural tissue.

About Cyanobacteria

• Cyanobacteria are a group of photosynthetic bacteria, some of which are nitrogen-fixing.
• Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms common in water and sometimes found in soil.
• They live in a wide variety of moist soils and water either freely or in a symbiotic relationship with plants or lichen-forming fungi.
• Cyanobacteria get their name from the bluish pigment phycocyanin, which they use to capture light for photosynthesis.
• They also contain ‘chlorophyll a’, the same photosynthetic pigment that plants use.
• ‘Chlorophyll a’ is a specific form of chlorophyll used in oxygenic photosynthesis.
• It absorbs most energy from wavelengths of violet-blue and orange-red light.
• It also reflects green-yellow light, and as such contributes to the observed green color of most plants.

Concerns

• While not all cyanobacteria produce toxins, some cyanobacterial blooms can harm people and animals.
• Additionally, scientists assert that toxic ones are occurring more frequently as a result of climate change driving up global temperatures.
• Scientists are concerned about their potential impact as climate change leads to warmer water temperatures, which many cyanobacteria prefer.
• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Southern Africa’s temperatures are rising at twice the global average.

About Botswana

• It is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Its 70% territory is covered by Kalahari Desert.
• Its landscape defined by the Kalahari Desert and the Okavango Delta, which becomes a lush animal habitat during the seasonal floods. 
• The massive Central Kalahari Game Reserve, with its fossilized river valleys and undulating grasslands, is home to numerous animals including giraffes, cheetahs, hyenas and wild dogs.
• Botswana has the world’s largest elephant population, estimated to be around 130,000.
• It is Africa's oldest continuous democracy.