The lives of innocent creatures continue to be destroyed due to the mistakes of people. According to the Associated Press, at least 20 elephants have died from eating plastic litter in the last eight years in the Pallakkadu village garbage dump, 130 miles east of Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo.
After two more elephants were found dead over the weekend, veterinarians and environmentalists; It has raised alarm over the country’s failed mitigation efforts on these deaths, such as broken electrified fences originally built to keep elephants out of the waste pit.
In autopsies, only plastic was found in elephant stomachs.
Speaking to the Associated Press, wildlife veterinarian Nihal Pushpakumara said that autopsies on elephants did not reveal the foods they normally eat and digest.
Sri Lanka allowed the electrified fence of the dump to rot after a lightning strike in 2014; did not take any new measures. 20 elephants died from eating litter in this region after this measure, which the government had promised to keep elephants safe, disappeared. In addition, Chinese state news outlet Xinhua reported that 122 people died due to human-elephant conflict in 2020, compared to an annual average of 85 previously.
Elephants are highly respected animals in Sri Lanka; but that doesn’t change the fact that they are in danger. According to the BBC, Sri Lanka conducted a census in 2011 that identified less than 6,000 elephants in the country; According to the AP, this number represents a huge drop compared to 14,000 in the 19th century.
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