10% of Sri Lanka's Wild Elephants are Living Off Human Garbage
10% of Sri Lanka's Wild Elephants are Living Off Human Garbage! This is a huge problem. Not only is this ethically wrong...the elephants are dying at an ever quickening pace. There are solutions!
We strongly disagree with a well known elephant scientist who is recently quoted in the press (see attached article) as stating that elephants eating human rubbish is good! He says this because he believes it reduces human/elephant conflict!. How short sighted is this! While the scientist is expressing a pragmatist's opinion; the fuel of a true conservationist is compassion! Elephants do not belong in human garbage dumps....period. Ethically, spiritually, and physically - they shouldn't be there. Plastics not only clog intestines, but their breakdown components lead to ulceration, liver and other internal failures. Sick, dying elephants result...all of them that reside in dumps will die premature deaths....all of them. What kind of world do we want to live in -- one where wild animals depend upon and live off of human refuse? In fact, we have film evidence of several bull elephants swimming in an open sewage pit that only minutes earlier been topped off with a tanker truck of additional fresh human shit (sorry for the honesty)!
Saying elephants are better off eating garbage in a dump, rather than roaming free and taking their chances in nature, is like saying that my son is better off being addicted to heroin in a ghetto, than traveling freely around the world! There's always risk in being alive in true nature, whether you are a human or an elephant. I don't want to be in jail...an elephant doesn't want to be in a zoo, and it's certainly our responsibility to inhibit addiction to drugs or garbage! There's a saying - better to die free than survive in bondage! Winston Churchill said "... that it would be better to die fighting when there was no chance of victory than to live in bondage." As far as human deaths - the number of elephant caused deaths pales when compared to death by snakes, mosquitos and car accidents. Elephant caused deaths are sensationalized - like plane accidents...it is heavily reported when it happens.
Recently, the Director of Sri Lanka's Wildlife Health viewed our video about the Garbage Dump Elephants of Dambulla. He observed that an entire herd was there, babies included, and not just a few bull elephants as is typical. He decided to take action immediately - contacting local authorities to repair fences surrounding the dump, as is required by law. He explained that toxins buildup in the intestine and that immature elephants are most susceptible to clogged intestines and toxic poisoning. He has attended numerous post-mortem autopsies over the past few years and is expert on the subject. We couldn't be happier about our role in service to the elephants of Sri Lanka.
The scientific evidence/proof of why elephants should be fenced from garbage dumps: While polyethylene may become evacuated from the intestine via feces, the highly concentrated human food waste may lead to alteration of the gut micro-flora, leading to the development of unfavorable conditions for cellulose digesting microbes. Changing of PH level in the gut causes alteration of gut micro-flora; harmful chemicals in the garbage often leads to the development of small ulceration. With continued ingestion of garbage, these ulcerations are likely to develop into major wounds due to various kinds of chemicals, poisons and microbial toxins. At the same time, elephants often remain near these garbage dumps instead of seeking other forage and sufficient water. These unfavorable conditions will enhance the gut wounds and secondary infection by bacteria and parasites which then leads to septicemia or nutritional absorption problems. These are the most recent findings of veterinary surgeons concerning the problems associated with elephants’ feeding upon human garbage which lead to sickness and death.
Furthermore, ingestion of millions of pathogenic bacteria through purified human food and dissemination and spreading of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria to all wildlife may become a huge problem in the future.
More Here: https://ceylontoday.lk/news/taste-of-the-waste?fbclid=IwAR3SefPho35zB9Vs_wew74_PVjcJLaM_j0sTLRnOxtGw7KEPSR87e575FV4
