: In Uttarakhand, scientists have discovered plastic and glass in elephant dung #IndiaNEWS A study published last month in The Journal for Nature Conservation reported the presence of plastic and other

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In Uttarakhand, scientists have discovered plastic and glass in elephant dung #IndiaNEWS
A study published last month in The Journal for Nature Conservation reported the presence of plastic and other human-made materials in elephant dung in the forests of Uttarakhand. The study authors investigated dung samples collected from four sites – three near the Haridwar Forest Division (Laldhang, Gaindikhata, and Shyampur), and one near Lansdowne Forest Division (Kotdwar). Glass, metal pieces, rubber bands, clay pottery and tile pieces were the other materials that had found their way into pachyderm guts. This is the first systematic documentation that provides incontrovertible proof that elephants ingest non-biodegradable, toxic anthropogenic waste, and that it is moving through their digestive systems.“It was horrifying to see how much plastic and other nonbiodegradable anthropogenic items were there in the elephant dung,� said Gitanjali Katlam, the main author of the study. She collected this data during her PhD at the Jawaharlal Nehru University.“It was not surprising, considering that there have been reports of elephants feeding from garbage dumps near forested areas,� added Soumya Prasad, who was Katlam’s PhD guide at JNU, and is now a researcher with the Nature Science Initiative. “I feel that this data is just the tip of the iceberg. There is not enough research on how much plastic is being ingested by terrestrial animals....Read more

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