'Poisoning probe' is launched after 15 elephants are found dead in Kenya safari park

By PERKIN AMALARAJ, FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 22:41, 28 July 2026 | Updated: 22:44, 28 July 2026 Kenyan wildlife authorities have launched a probe into a possible mass poisoning after 15 elephants were found dead at a safari park.   The Kenya Wildlife Service said 10 of the animals showed signs of partial paralysis before dying within two days, while the remaining five were found dead, with their carcasses partially consumed by scavengers. Most of those affected were female elephants and their calves, with only one male among the dead.  The deaths happened at different locations in the Kimana Sanctuary and Kuku Ranch areas surrounding the park, the authority said. The region is famous for its wildlife.   Kenya has previously recorded incidents of elephants being poisoned as a result of poaching and human-wildlife conflict. Preliminary tests on samples collected from the elephants by a laboratory at the University of Nairobi detected a 'potential toxic substance.' Separate analyses by the Government Chemist were negative for the toxins tested. The authority said further tests are underway. The Kenya Wildlife Service said 10 of the animals showed signs of partial paralysis before dying within two days, while the remaining five were found dead (File image) 'Environmental investigations are also being undertaken, including the analysis of water sources and other potential environmental contaminants within the affected areas, to establish whether the elephants were exposed to a common source,' the authority said in a statement. The authorities sought to reassure the public, saying there was no evidence the condition could be transmitted to humans. According to figures from the Amboseli Trust for Elephants, there were more than 2,000 elephants in the Amboseli ecosystem as of 2025.  In 2021, five elephants, including a calf, were killed in fires started by UK soldiers in Kenya, prompting an investigation by the British Army.  Four were trapped inside an area surrounded by electric fencing, which had been erected to prevent them wandering into an area where British troops practice warfighting, according to local reports. The fire reportedly started when troops cooking a meal on a camping stove accidentally set light to dry grass. The fire spread quickly but no British soldiers were injured, according to official defence sources. A baby elephant was said to have been killed in a separate fire on a military training area in Kenya the week prior.  In this incident Royal Military Police officers apparently set off a flare in a bid to disperse a herd of elephants. But the flare is said to have set light to a bush, trapping a calf.