Hungry Elephant Wades Through Pile Of Rubbish In Search For Food

Tragic photographs show an elephant in India wading through a pile of rubbish in search for food.

The pictures show the majestic mammal covered in trash as it uses its trunk to sift through a mound of plastic waste.

Sports journalist Pranab Das captured the moment in the state of West Bengal and said the rubbish had been left there by tourists.

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He said: "I hope these photos encourage people to stop littering. The garbage was left behind by vans.

"The elephant was snacking on plastic which was painful for me to see."

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Plastic is doing huge damage to environments and wildlife across the world, in large part due to the fact it doesn't biodegrade.

As well as the pollution it causes, animals can often mistakenly eat plastic, which can have fatal consequences.

In May, a vet in Thailand removed a 30cm long plastic bag from a sea turtle's intestines.

The green sea turtle was spotted washed ashore on a beach in Rayong and locals got in touch with Marine and Coastal Resources Rescue and Development Centre after seeing the poor creature appearing to struggle as it walked along the beach.

Grim footage shows the vet pulling out the thin plastic bag from the turtle's bottom. The vet said the 30cm long plastic bag had been affecting the animal's digestive system and causing constipation.

Warning people about the dangers of plastic pollution, the vet added: "The plastic garbage that people throw out washes into the seas, where it becomes highly dangerous for the animals.

"They eat the plastic without knowing that it is not edible then it slowly kills them."

But the threat posed by plastic pollution affects us all.

Around 12.7 million tonnes of plastic end up in our oceans every year and traces of plastic are appearing in the seafood on our plates, having being mistakenly consumed by aquatic animals.

As such, plastic pollution is affecting the food chain at every level, and the extent of the danger posed by microplastic consumption in humans is not yet fully understood.

LADbible's campaign, Trash Isles, pressured the United Nations to formally acknowledge an area of accumulative plastic trash the size of France that is polluting the Pacific Ocean.

Topics: elephants, Animals, India

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey