Images Of Elephant & Leopard Eating Plastic Shows How Pollution Is Killing The Wildlife

One of the biggest environmental impacts of opening up protected areas including forests and national parks to tourists is the huge amount of garbage they leave behind.

Over a period of time, it starts piling up and then slowly destroys the entire ecosystem around it.

What is even worse is when unsuspecting wild animals start consuming them while on the search of food.

In recent times there have been a number of case where wild animals were seen feeding on plastic waste.

Now, yet another case has surfaced where a leopard was seen eating a plastic bag. The photo, which is said to be taken from near Corbett Tiger Reserve was shared by Parag Madhukar Dhakate, Conservator of forests (western circle) Uttarakhand.

¡°This is alarming. Nothing of this sort has ever come to our notice so far. We are investigating the matter,¡± Dhakate told The Times of India.

¡°This is a very serious issue. Even though the camera trap image is not from Corbett Tiger Reserve, it is alarming that such a thing has happened in the protected forest area. An inquiry into the matter is necessary and suitable steps should be taken to prevent a repeat of this.¡±Rahul, director of Corbett Tiger Reserve added.

Dhakate also shared another disturbing image where an elephant was seen in a swamp of plastic waste.

"Such heartbreaking pictures, are often becoming a daily sight. Once thriving forest landscapes all over India have now become plastic garbage dump grounds, which affects the wildlife by killing them. One such factor is the irresponsible tourism followed widely in the country because of which the plastic gets thrown around extensively, even in Wildlife Rich areas, there have been many deaths of wildlife due to plastic garbage," he wrote.

Earlier this year, nine deer at the Guindy National Park (GNP) in Chennai had died after allegedly consuming plastic bags. Postmortem of one of the deer had revealed 6 kg of polythene bags in its stomach

BCCL

In January this year, a report was published based on a study conducted in Uttarakhand which showed that garbage dumps are resulting in a shift in food habits of birds and wild animals.

BCCL

The study conducted at two locations where tourists generate a lot of garbage in and around such natural habitats examined the relationship between animal type and behaviour vis-¨¤-vis the risk of plastic ingestion. It was found that a total of 32 species of animals and birds were feeding on garbage.