Heartbreaking images reveal Sri Lankan elephants consuming from garbage dump

    By
    Emily Sørensen
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    Caption: Desperate elephants hunting for food end up eating rubbish

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    The images were recorded by Jaffna-based professional photographer Tharmaplan Tilaxan (Photo: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

    Wild elephants in Sri Lanka have actually been consuming rubbish from a land fill website near their environment, heartbreaking images expose.

    The images, recorded by Jaffna-based professional photographer Tharmaplan Tilaxan, reveal a herd searching through and consuming from stacks of trash in Oluvil, east Sri Lanka.

    Tilaxan has actually long recorded the elephants to raise awareness of their predicament and these images were included in an exhibit kept in Jaffna to highlight the effects of contamination.

    In an article, Tilaxan stated: ‘In the eastern province, a herd of wild elephants have actually gotten a strange – and unfortunate – routine: given that lately, these elephants have actually been seen foraging for food in trash discards. One trash dump – located near a location near called “Ashraf Nagar” near the forest surrounding the Oluvil-Pallakadu location in the Ampara district – is thought about the reason for this brand-new, damaging and unhealthy routine.

    ‘The herd of wild elephants – numbering about 25-30 – now accustomed to feeding so close to human habitat have also begun to invade nearby paddy fields and villages seeking more food adding more tension to the already fraught relationship between the villagers and the wild animals.’

    **MANDATORY CREDIT: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images** These harrowing images of elephants foraging for food on a refuse facility were captured by Tharmaplan Tilaxan, a Jaffna-based photographer. Elephants normally travel over 30 km per day and seed up to 3500 new trees a day. For the Oluvhil Palakadhu elephants many things have changed and their changed behavior will change our landscape. Tharmapalan Tilaxan has observed this open garbage dump amidst the jungles of the Eastern Province for many months and documented the hazards this poses to the local elephant population. He explains the scenes in his own words: In the eastern province, a herd of wild elephants have picked up a peculiar???and sad???habit: Since of late, these elephants have been seen foraging for food in garbage dumps. One garbage dump???situated near an area near known as ???Ashraf Nagar??? close to the forest bordering the Oluvil-Pallakadu area in the Ampara district???is considered the cause of this new, destructive and unhealthy habit. Garbage from Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Karaitheevu, Ninthavur, Addalachchenai, Akkaraipattu and Alaiyadi Vembu is dumped here, and has slowly encroached on the adjacent forest, becoming easily accessible to the wild elephants of Oluvil. As a result of unintentionally consuming microplastics and polythene, large quantities of undigested pollutants have been found in the excretion of these wild animals. A number of postmortems carried out on elephant cadavers have yielded plastic products and non-digestive polythene in their stomach contents. The herd of wild elephants???numbering about 25-30???now accustomed to feeding so close to human habitat have also begun to invade nearby paddy fields and villages seeking more food adding more tension to the already fraught relationship between the villagers and the wild animals. Despite a number of roundtable discussions with authorities that arrived at many solutions ??? including the construction of a reinfo

    The elephants were seen foraging among rubbish (Photo: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

    **MANDATORY CREDIT: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images** These harrowing images of elephants foraging for food on a refuse facility were captured by Tharmaplan Tilaxan, a Jaffna-based photographer. Elephants normally travel over 30 km per day and seed up to 3500 new trees a day. For the Oluvhil Palakadhu elephants many things have changed and their changed behavior will change our landscape. Tharmapalan Tilaxan has observed this open garbage dump amidst the jungles of the Eastern Province for many months and documented the hazards this poses to the local elephant population. He explains the scenes in his own words: In the eastern province, a herd of wild elephants have picked up a peculiar???and sad???habit: Since of late, these elephants have been seen foraging for food in garbage dumps. One garbage dump???situated near an area near known as ???Ashraf Nagar??? close to the forest bordering the Oluvil-Pallakadu area in the Ampara district???is considered the cause of this new, destructive and unhealthy habit. Garbage from Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Karaitheevu, Ninthavur, Addalachchenai, Akkaraipattu and Alaiyadi Vembu is dumped here, and has slowly encroached on the adjacent forest, becoming easily accessible to the wild elephants of Oluvil. As a result of unintentionally consuming microplastics and polythene, large quantities of undigested pollutants have been found in the excretion of these wild animals. A number of postmortems carried out on elephant cadavers have yielded plastic products and non-digestive polythene in their stomach contents. The herd of wild elephants???numbering about 25-30???now accustomed to feeding so close to human habitat have also begun to invade nearby paddy fields and villages seeking more food adding more tension to the already fraught relationship between the villagers and the wild animals. Despite a number of roundtable discussions with authorities that arrived at many solutions ??? including the construction of a reinfo

    The garbage dump website lies in Oluvil, east Sri Lanka (Photo: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

    **MANDATORY CREDIT: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images** These harrowing images of elephants foraging for food on a refuse facility were captured by Tharmaplan Tilaxan, a Jaffna-based photographer. Elephants normally travel over 30 km per day and seed up to 3500 new trees a day. For the Oluvhil Palakadhu elephants many things have changed and their changed behavior will change our landscape. Tharmapalan Tilaxan has observed this open garbage dump amidst the jungles of the Eastern Province for many months and documented the hazards this poses to the local elephant population. He explains the scenes in his own words: In the eastern province, a herd of wild elephants have picked up a peculiar???and sad???habit: Since of late, these elephants have been seen foraging for food in garbage dumps. One garbage dump???situated near an area near known as ???Ashraf Nagar??? close to the forest bordering the Oluvil-Pallakadu area in the Ampara district???is considered the cause of this new, destructive and unhealthy habit. Garbage from Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Karaitheevu, Ninthavur, Addalachchenai, Akkaraipattu and Alaiyadi Vembu is dumped here, and has slowly encroached on the adjacent forest, becoming easily accessible to the wild elephants of Oluvil. As a result of unintentionally consuming microplastics and polythene, large quantities of undigested pollutants have been found in the excretion of these wild animals. A number of postmortems carried out on elephant cadavers have yielded plastic products and non-digestive polythene in their stomach contents. The herd of wild elephants???numbering about 25-30???now accustomed to feeding so close to human habitat have also begun to invade nearby paddy fields and villages seeking more food adding more tension to the already fraught relationship between the villagers and the wild animals. Despite a number of roundtable discussions with authorities that arrived at many solutions ??? including the construction of a reinfo

    There are around 25 to 30 elephants in the herd (Photo: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

    **MANDATORY CREDIT: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images** These harrowing images of elephants foraging for food on a refuse facility were captured by Tharmaplan Tilaxan, a Jaffna-based photographer. Elephants normally travel over 30 km per day and seed up to 3500 new trees a day. For the Oluvhil Palakadhu elephants many things have changed and their changed behavior will change our landscape. Tharmapalan Tilaxan has observed this open garbage dump amidst the jungles of the Eastern Province for many months and documented the hazards this poses to the local elephant population. He explains the scenes in his own words: In the eastern province, a herd of wild elephants have picked up a peculiar???and sad???habit: Since of late, these elephants have been seen foraging for food in garbage dumps. One garbage dump???situated near an area near known as ???Ashraf Nagar??? close to the forest bordering the Oluvil-Pallakadu area in the Ampara district???is considered the cause of this new, destructive and unhealthy habit. Garbage from Sammanthurai, Kalmunai, Karaitheevu, Ninthavur, Addalachchenai, Akkaraipattu and Alaiyadi Vembu is dumped here, and has slowly encroached on the adjacent forest, becoming easily accessible to the wild elephants of Oluvil. As a result of unintentionally consuming microplastics and polythene, large quantities of undigested pollutants have been found in the excretion of these wild animals. A number of postmortems carried out on elephant cadavers have yielded plastic products and non-digestive polythene in their stomach contents. The herd of wild elephants???numbering about 25-30???now accustomed to feeding so close to human habitat have also begun to invade nearby paddy fields and villages seeking more food adding more tension to the already fraught relationship between the villagers and the wild animals. Despite a number of roundtable discussions with authorities that arrived at many solutions ??? including the construction of a reinfo

    Post-mortems have actually discovered plastic items in the stomachs of a number of elephants (Photo: Tharmaplan Tilaxan/Cover Images)

    Normally, elephants will take a trip as much as 30 kilometres every day to discover food, however this herd have actually needed to adjust to modifications in the environment.

    As an outcome of being required to forage in rubbish, the animals are now consuming microplastics and non-digestible polythene. Tilaxan states a variety of post-mortems have actually exposed plastic items and polythene in the elephants’ stomach contents.

    Despite a variety of conversations with authorities occurring and even getting to options – consisting of an enhanced fence around the trash dump – no action has actually yet been required to stop Oluvil’s elephants from accessing the garbage dump website and other city locations.

    Tilaxan included: ‘The frequency of elephant casualties is a call to all stakeholders to unite and arrive at a solution that will resolve this issue as soon as possible.’

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