Fifteen elephants have died outside Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya, and investigators are now trying to determine whether the animals were poisoned after feeding on tomatoes sprayed with pesticides on nearby farms. The Kenya Wildlife Service said preliminary laboratory tests on samples taken from the carcasses found cyanide.
The deaths unfolded over more than a month, from 24 June to 24 July 2026, and included 10 elephants that were seen with signs of paralysis before they died within two days. The other five were already dead when found. That makes this the first time in decades that elephant mortalities on this scale have been recorded in the region, a place where large losses are unusual after years of effort to curb poaching.
The figure matters because the Amboseli ecosystem still held more than 2,000 elephants in 2025, according to the Amboseli Trust for Elephants. The area straddles the border with Tanzania and is known for wildlife that moves across a landscape where elephants often stray onto farmland in search of food and water. In that setting, a poisoned food source can turn a routine boundary crossing into a mass death event.
What is not yet clear is how the cyanide entered the chain that killed them. Wildlife officials have ruled out foul play for the time being, and they have told local media that the toxic substances pose no immediate risk to humans. But the biggest unanswered question remains the same: whether the dead elephants were exposed to contaminated tomatoes, or whether the pesticides themselves carried a cyanide source that investigators have yet to pin down.
For now, the deaths point to a new kind of pressure on an ecosystem better known for surviving poaching than for farm-related poisoning. If the tests hold up, the loss of 15 elephants in a single stretch of weeks will not just be a grim tally. It will be a warning that the danger around Amboseli is shifting, and that the next round of protections may have to reach beyond the park boundary.
