Elephants face plastic danger, foraging dumps for food

Saturday, 19 May 2018 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

AFP: At a garbage dump in the Central Province, a herd of wild elephants forage among a mountain of rubbish, swallowing dangerous scraps of plastic mixed with rotting food in what experts warn is an increasing problem for the revered animals.

Due to illegal dumping near wildlife sanctuaries, hundreds of Sri Lanka’s estimated 7,500 wild elephants now scavenge at rubbish tips and many are being made sick by what they eat, expert on Asian elephants Jayantha Jayewardene, said.

“Sri Lanka considers elephants to be a national treasure, but we see these animals reduced to eating rubbish,” said Jayewardene. “They have become docile and have gotten so used to tractors bringing them garbage.”

A herd of 20 wild elephants at Habarana in the East has become totally dependent on rubbish and behave almost like domestic animals, waiting for tractors to tip the garbage.

“These elephants no longer forage in the jungle. They are like zoo animals. It is a sad sight to see national treasures picking through rotting rubbish,” Jayewardene added.

The animals can be seen covered in smelly garbage and rooting through piles of plastic bottles, a far cry from the majestic jumbos portrayed in travel brochures.

Jayewardene said the solid waste includes plastic scraps, despite a Government ban on non-biodegradable polythene. Hundreds of elephants elsewhere are also known to forage at dozens of rubbish tips near elephant habitats.

“Elephants are getting sick by eating plastic,” he said. “We don’t, however, have post-mortem evidence yet of polythene causing deaths, but this is a real concern.” The Government, last year, banned the open dumping of garbage near wildlife sanctuaries to discourage elephants from risking their lives by foraging for rotting food.

At one dump in Digampathana, an elephant was recently seen trying to open a plastic sack to get at an onion, but ended up swallowing the plastic as well.

The Government has ordered electric fences be erected around more than 50 dumps near elephant habitats to keep the roaming beasts away. Some have not been put up while others are ineffective, according to local residents.

“Around 300 wild elephants are hanging around the dumps,” the Government said in a statement issued last year. “When elephants consume bacteria-infested waste, it shortens their lifespan.” The problem is worse for a herd of spotted deer at Koneswaran in the north-eastern district of Trincomalee where frequent deaths have been reported due to plastic poisoning.

Local wildlife officials told AFP that there was no effective enforcement of the garbage ban.

Sri Lanka cracked down on haphazard disposal of garbage after 33 people were buried alive when a huge 90-metre rubbish tip at the edge of Colombo collapsed, destroying more than 100 homes.

Since then, plastics have been banned and prosecutions been threatened for illegal dumping. But, enforcement remains a problem.

Elephants are venerated in Buddhism and are protected by law.