The iconic baobabs of Africa are dying at an alarming rate

CROOKS CORNER, South Africa – The ancient African baobab, with its distinctive swollen trunk and known as the "tree of life", is under a new and mysterious threat, with some- some of the largest and oldest. According to a study published in the scientific journal Nature Plants, nine of the 13 oldest baobabs, aged between 1,000 and 2,500 years old, have been dead for a dozen or so years.

The sudden collapse is "an event of unprecedented magnitude," the study says.

Climate change, with its increasing temperatures and increasing drought conditions, is a suspected factor but no definite cause is known. The deaths occurred in the southern African countries of Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. "Falling trees are at the southern end of the baobab distribution," said Stephan Woodborne. Foundation, an author of the study. "What we believe is that the climate envelope in which they exist is changing, and so we are not talking about the mbadive extinction of baobabs."

Juvenile trees in the affected Woodborne region said:

Baobabs are hot, dry savannah sites in southern Africa and are often found in areas where elephants live. , rhinoceros and other wild animals. Elephants help spread trees when they eat baobab fruit, with seeds that often grow in nutritious elephant dung. "Baobabs are obviously emblematic because of their size and shape and they are very distinctive on the African landscape – they used them for a variety of reasons over time," Woodborne said. "We find a lot of archaeological sites under these trees, and when we have trees that are more than 1000 years old, we are talking about occupations that took place several hundred years ago." [19659002BaobabsstorelargeamountsofwaterintheirtrunksbranchesgivingthetreestheirbulbousformTalltreescanstoreupto140000 liters (37,000 gallons) of water drawn in during the rainy season. Thirsty elephants often strip a baobab tree of its bark and wood for moisture.

Trees are often revered by local communities who sometimes gather around them to hold traditional religious ceremonies and communicate with their ancestors. People also use baobab fruit to make drinks and mix them with milk for yogurt-like food, or just shelter in the shade of trees for a sweltering summer day

"There have been no stores for a long time," said Anna Munzhelele of the Pafuri area near the Limpopo River in South Africa. "We would become strong … it's like a type of medicine, we derive energy from it.

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Kevin Sutherland, The Associated Press