IAS Officer Shares Video Of Elephant Eating Plastic, Expresses Concern Over Impact Of Reckless Waste Disposal On Wildlife

One of the biggest environmental impacts observed by opening up protected forests and national parks to a large number of tourists are the piles of garbage that they leave behind. Despite bans and awareness about the hazards of plastic waste, many tourists behave recklessly and dump plastic in protected spaces. This garbage gradually piles up, destroys the ecosystem and often gets consumed by unsuspecting wild animals in search of food. 

Many officials and netizens have, time and again, posted images of wild animals feeding on plastic waste and reminded people to act responsibly. One such recent tweet by Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer Supriya Sahu shows a video of an elephant chewing on plastic waste left behind by people and sheds light on how the problem continues to persist in the country. The tweet garnered the attention and responses of several netizens and environmentalists who have once again placed the topic for debate.

Full View

'A Tragedy Beyond Measure'

Plastic constitutes a good portion of our everyday life, and this can visibly be seen in the piles of garbage left behind by every individual. Right from the toothbrush used to start a day to the water drunk out of the non-biodegradable plastic packages, plastic has become the cheapest, easily available material around every corner. The harms and hazards of the same take a back seat due to people's hesitation to switch to greener and sustainable alternatives that are a bit more costly than the easily available plastic. 

As the increased consumption comes along with increased plastic waste left behind, there have been incidents reported where stray or wild animals consume it mistaking it for food. This is a lot more concerning since plastic consumption could weaken them and cause their death. The swallowed pieces of plastic block many animals' gastrointestinal tract in such a manner that it cannot be passed out of their stomach. It, in turn, remains deposited and continues to form lumps of plastic within their digestive system. After a point of time, the animal would begin to consume less food and would eventually die out of starvation and a system weakened by plastic waste. 

It is through the videos that show animals eating the plastics left behind that people get the reminder to act responsibly and protect their wildlife. Summing this up, Supriya tweeted a video of an elephant chewing plastic and captioned it, "When humans become slaves of throwaway plastic the price is paid by wild animals. It's a tragedy beyond measure." 

Reactions And Reception

The video posted by Sahu, who is the Additional Chief Secretary of Environment Climate Change and Forests for the Government of Tamil Nadu, reached a large audience. Within hours of posting, the video received over 13,000 views and 500 likes. People were actively engaging in the comments section and conveyed that they found the video "absolutely heartbreaking." A user named Shalini asked if any strict action can be taken on the spot by the government like it has been followed in several other countries. This initiated a conversation on an effective collaborative action between the citizens and the government. 

Few users built on the idea and conveyed that a stringent penalty has to be imposed by the government to curb such incidents. Questioning the existing regulations in place, a user named Narayana Murthy commented, "Many High courts in different states directed governments to ban single-use plastic, what are the challenges to the Government for not implementing strict action plans on single-use plastic?" Noting that the blame cannot be shifted entirely, multiple users said that citizens have to be sensitive about the environment and have to "mend their practices or perish so that nature can survive freely." 

Talking about growing efforts on both ends, two users by the name of Ashok Kumar and Kannan S shed some hope on the issue. Nudging people to "have track on consumptions, resource use, greed for consumerism" for a sustainable coexistence, Ashok claimed that we as individuals are responsible for our actions. Kannan also built on the idea of growing action being taken and added that there are thorough checks being conducted at the Kakanallah check post en route to Nilgiris after a similar incident was reported.

Also Read: Why Is Human-Wildlife Conflict More Than Just A Conservation Concern? All You Need To Know