Pollution, unchecked development, and uncontrolled fishing are endangering the ecological health of the Chobe River, experts recently told the Daily News, a Botswana daily. The Chobe River marks the boundaries of Botswana, Zambia, Namibia, and Zimbabwe and flows along the northeastern border of Botswana’s Chobe National Park.

According to experts, many lodges and other buildings are too close to the riverbank, increasing the risk that sewage and other man-made chemicals will end up in the water.

Recently, fish in the Chobe River were attacked by a disease caused by human waste that likely leaked from the sewage system of area lodges.