Elephant Looks For 'Food' In Garbage Said To Have Been Discarded By Tourists

It's a known fact that animals sometimes venture into human territory looking for food. What is also tragic but not unusual is that in their search for food, these animals inadvertently consume plastic.

In a heartbreaking incident reportedly from West Bengal, a hungry elephant was found searching for food in a pile of garbage said to have been left behind by tourists.

Pranab Das Via Mail Online

According to a Mail Online report, the elephant was found using its trunk to wade through the mound of waste to look for food.

The photos were taken by Pranab Das, a sports journalist who lives in the area. He reportedly said that he saw the elephant ingesting plastic that was left behind by tourists. We cannot independently confirm when the images were taken.

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Pranab Das Via Mail Online

¡°I hope these photos encourage people to stop littering. The garbage was left behind by vans. The elephant was snacking on plastic which was painful for me to see,¡± Mail Online quoted him as saying.

One can see that the elephant has rubbish resting on top of its head and back. Elephants usually survive on roots, grasses, fruit, and bark and the photos show it surrounded by vegetation. But for some reason it rummaged through the waste that was dumped in the wild.

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Pranab Das Via Mail Online

Among the rubbish, dumped plastic bottles and containers can be seen. There are numerous cases of animals choking on plastic or dying because of plastic pollution. That is why environmentalists keep asking to not litter or throw plastic waste around animals. It is shameful that such heaps of garbage have been left in areas where they can be easily accessed by and harm wildlife.