Elephants Found Dead With Stomachs Full of Plastic at a Sri Lankan Landfill

violent elephants arenotoriously intelligent creaturesknown for exhibiting unmatchedempathyin the beast creation . But humans has put elephants in some tough spots , and there may be no tough one than a Sri Lankan landfill .

A ruck of endangered Asiatic elephants has been search it for food for years , and at least 20 have cash in one’s chips after eat plastic . Heartbreakingly , two more of the endangered soft giants reportedly died by ingest scraps of throw away human trash last weekend .

As the Associated Pressreports , the landfill is located near Pallakkadu village in the eastern part of the country . A veterinarian interviewed by the AP said the two deceased elephant had swallowed large sum of money of polyethylene , food wrappers , and other plastics . Making matters worse , there were no signs of food for thought elephants normally eat found in their bodies .

Wild elephants scavenge for food at an open landfill in Pallakkadu, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 6, 2022.

Wild elephants scavenge for food at an open landfill in Pallakkadu, Sri Lanka, on Jan. 6, 2022.Photo: Achala Pussalla (AP)

According to the AP , the degradation of the elephants ’ natural habitat has forced them to transmigrate closer to homo and their landfill . Desperate for food , the elephants have enter landfill to try out their luck . But doing so arrange the Asiatic elephant at endangerment of eat matter not mean for consumption , including plastics or other sharp object .

Though the Sri Lankan government has had plans in property for at least four years to recycle plastics in candid landfills and install galvanizing fencing around their perimeter to keep this good deal from happening in the first position , those efforts have n’t fully materialise . Pallakkadu village — which collect waste from nine villages — once had an electrical fencing around the landfill . But it was strike by lightning and has n’t been fixed or replaced since 2014 . That site also is n’t decently recycle its thriftlessness .

At other Sri Lanken landfill , the government has resorted to digging giant fosse around landfills to keep elephant out according to theDaily Sabah . The electrical outlet also noted that because elephant home ground is shrinking , that also up the danger of human - elephant engagement . The large beast have been found strolling into town or through fields .

Photo: Achala Pussalla

Photo: Achala Pussalla (AP)

Though this precise Sri Lanken landfill has a especially gross story with elephant death , it ’s far from the only shoes where crank has become a deadly delicacy for the animals . At least eight elephantsdiedin 2016 after use up toxic plastic garbage from an open landfill in Victoria Falls , Zimbabwe . Another 3.5 - ton elephant around 20 twelvemonth old go in 2020 after consume charge card in Thailand .

The charge plate problem also extends to other wildlife . ocean turtle arenotoriously attractedto use up charge plate , in part because it reek like food . Human - wildlife conflict due to habitat loss is a trouble found all around the world as well . A Siberian township , for example , has been repeatedlyoverrun by arctic bearsin hunt of solid food because of diminishing ocean ice .

The gut - wrenching stories are a reminder of not only the penury toconserve nature , but also put an end to defilement in the first place . Cleanup efforts can only go so far ; the best way to ensure elephant or any other creatures are n’t found drained with a stomach full of plastic is toshut off the tap in the first office .

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