Plastic ingestion in Asian elephants in the forested landscapes of
Uttarakhand, IndiaGitanjali Katlam, Soumya Prasad, Anant Pande & Nirala
RamchiaryJournal for Nature Conservation
August 2022 Abstract
Ecological impacts of plastic contamination on marine environment have been
documented extensively, however its spread and impacts on terrestrial and
freshwater fauna are still poorly understood. In the present study, we
investigated diet of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) for plastic
ingestion around forested habitats of Uttarakhand state in India. We
quantified plastic particles and other anthropogenic waste from elephant
dung samples collected from edges and interiors of forest areas, confirming
plastic ingestion by this endangered mammal species. Each human-derived
item was identified, measured, and sub-categorized into plastic or other
anthropogenic waste. About one-third (32%) of the elephant dung samples
showed presence of anthropogenic waste. Plastic particles ranging from size
1–355 mm, comprised of 85% of the waste recovered from elephant dung
samples (47.08 ± 12.85 particles per sample). We found twice as many
plastic particles (85.27 ± 33.7/ 100 g) in samples collected from inside
forest as compared to forest edge (35.34 ± 11.14 plastic particles/100 g).
A higher count (34.79 ± 28.41 items/100 g sample) of non-biodegradable
anthropogenic waste (glass, metal, rubber bands, clay pottery and tile
pieces) was obtained from samples collected inside the forest area samples
as compared to forest edge samples (9.44 ± 1.91items/100 g). There were
higher proportion of macroplastic (>5 mm) retrieved than microplastic (1–5
mm) in the elephant dung. The present study is the first systematic
documentation of non-biodegradable waste ingestion by Asian elephants. High
plastic presence in elephant dung highlights its widespread use near
protected habitats and lack of waste segregation practices underlining the
vulnerability of wild animals to plastic ingestion risk. We provide
recommendations for developing a comprehensive solid waste management
strategy to mitigate the threat of plastic pollution around critical
elephant habitats in India.
ABSTRACT
LINKhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138122000693?via%3Dihub
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138122000693?via%3Dihub