Anthrax has broken out in the Chobe National Park. 68 buffalo and 1 elephant carcasses were found. Game rangers have told tour operators to stop bringing tourists into the park.

well, there goes my day trip to Chobe!
Sorry to hear that though.
Dennis

This is horrible news for the wildlife in that area! When I was in Namibia on a private farm, there were lots of areas that were double fenced and I'm pretty sure the owner told me it was to keep the wildebeest contained because they carried anthrax (there weren't any buffalo on this property.)

I leave for safari next week and after 2 nights at Victoria Falls we are scheduled for 4 nights in Chobe. This is bad news. I've emailed this to our contact in the US to see if he is aware of it and to find out how the trip will be changing. I can't tell if the whole park is closed or just portions. I sure was looking forward to Chobe but I'll just have to wait to hear what's going to happen.

Another report at http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?s...5868802351B213 said 150 buffaloes have been found dead now.

Thanks for the news, luangwablondes.

from what i gather the kasane areas and north chobe riverfront areas are closed.

sundowner, if you look at the iol article the date is sept 23 2004 5:23 p.m. so maybe your numbers were from last year and it might not be so bad. some of the other sites i looked at also said 2004.

When we were there last month we were told that Anthrax has been in the park for more than a year, and we saw several places where elephant remains had been burnt in order to control the disease. But the park was far from closed. Are you sure this is recent news?

I think you are right gardyloo...all the google searches come back 2004! (maybe luangwablondes has an inside track on it though)

matnikstym
You are right. I was mailed this today. I checked with friends in VF and they said a year ago and should disavow knowing the guy. This is going to cost him(he is from Joburg).

Thanks for the "new" news, matnikstym and Gardyloo! Hopes dashed and recovered in an hour or two!

me too gardyloo...now i get to make my day trip from vic falls

You can see my trip report(s) at http://home.comcast.net/~gardyloo

I just returned from Chobe and it was definitely still open. However, there were 2 dead elephant in the river and we were told it was probably from anthrax. Supposedly the rangers were going to pull them out of the river and burn them so they wouldn't contaminate the other wildlife.

I was a news journo for 40 years and would have been sacked if I'd published such a mistake. luangwablondes, why didn't you check with your VF friends first?

afrigalah
Did you know the Southern Kalahari was closed? He was the 1st to let me know. Had not been a problem b4, just a little too eager to assist me with my plans this time. At least it was retracted quickly.

Yep, the quick correction by Dennis was the only good thing about it. One thing I learned was that the biggest mistakes come via the people who are usually reliable because you trust them too much and fail to double check. You won't do it again, eh?

"One thing I learned was that the biggest mistakes come via the people who are usually reliable because you trust them too much and fail to double check."

I've just learned this in South Luangwa, when the co-owner of a lodge told me that they currently have only one trade partner in the US... ;-)

Mitch

Which lodge was that, Mitch?

Cheers,
Julian