Yet another elephant was found dead in Amparai on Saturday, after it consumed plastic waste in an open landfill site that conservationists have been warning about for years.
Around 20 elephants have died over the last ten years in the region alone after they consumed plastic waste left at the site.
Yet another elephant was found dead in Amparai on Saturday, after it consumed plastic waste in an open landfill site that conservationists have been warning about for years.
Around 20 elephants have died over the last ten years in the region alone after they consumed plastic waste left at the site.
Warning: Some readers might find the image below distressing.
Though a post-mortem has yet to be carried out, more than ten elephants regularly visit the site. Rubbish from neighbouring towns, including Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Karaitheevu and Alayadivembu, have been dumped near Ashraf Nagar, which borders the Oluvil Pallakkadu area, where the elephants roam freely.
The elephants have reportedly become so accustomed to foraging through the mound for food and ingesting plastics, that they now wait for trucks to unload waste into the dump.
Post-mortem reports from elephants who had previously passed recovered polythene and plastics in their stomachs.
See photographs by Jaffna-based photographer Tharmapalan Tilaxan, in our piece: Eelam's elephants under threat
Also see more from ABC News here.
