Plastic and cloth waste in stomach cavities of five Indian gaur found dead in Nilgiris

With shrinking grasslands, the animals are venturing into towns in search of food; the ingested garbage could be a contributing factor in their deaths, officials said

Improperly discarded waste could have led to the deaths of at least five Indian gaur in various parts of the Nilgiris since December last year, sources in the Forest Department told The Hindu.

On Friday, an Indian gaur was found dead in Kattabettu Range near Kotagiri. During the post-mortem, it was found that the animal had consumed a plastic bag used to package manure and fertilizer, eventually leading to its death. However, officials with the Forest Department revealed that this was not the only death of Indian gaur resulting from improperly dumped plastic and cloth waste by local residents.