UN Report Warns of Mass Wildlife Deaths from 2023–25 Droughts Across Africa, Amazon

A new United Nations report warns that extreme droughts, intensified by global heating and El Niño, have caused widespread wildlife deaths across Africa and the Amazon between 2023 and 2025.

The joint study by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the US National Drought Mitigation Center highlights starvation, heat stress, and increased human-wildlife conflict as key drivers.

In Africa, at least 100 elephants died in Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, while drought in Kenya led to lions being speared in retaliation for livestock killings. Zimbabwe and Namibia announced culling plans due to unsustainable wildlife populations, and Botswana saw entire hippo herds perish in drying rivers.

In the Amazon, drought-related temperature spikes led to the mass deaths of over 200 river dolphins and thousands of fish in Lake Tefé. Manatees, exposed by receding waters, also faced renewed poaching risks. The report warns these events are reshaping regional biodiversity under accelerating climate stress.