Just a week ago, Delhi’s National Zoological Park lost its last surviving Cape Buffalo. A recent post-mortem report has revealed that the reason for the death of the African-native species of the animal may be consumption of plastic.
A senior official at the zoo revealed that the plastic may have come from visitors who discarded a plastic bag. He says,
During post-mortem, a plastic packet was found in its stomach. The plastic might have flown into the {animal} enclosure. Visitors often come with plastic bags in the zoo and discard them.
Delhi is a declared no-plastic zone, but usage of plastic is still rampant, and instances like these prove that the situation is escalating and in need of a firm solution. A letter accessed by Hindustan Times, written by the zoo’s veterinary officer Abhijit Bhawal to zoo director Renu Singh confirmed that plastic was involved in the animal’s death.
Further incidence of plastic in the stomach of the Cape Buffalo has raised many questions. Hence, I would request you to kindly take the matter seriously.
Some zoo officials have also revealed that this is not the first time an incident like this has happened in the Zoo. Apparently in the early 1990s, a kangaroo was suspected to have died after consuming plastic.