Littering inside forests poses threat to wildlife: WSO

Bhubaneswar: Rampant littering of liquor bottles in Odisha’s forests has emerged as a serious threat to elephant safety, the Wildlife Society of Odisha (WSO), a private organisation working for conservation of forests and wildlife, said on Monday.

The organisation said groups of young drinkers are increasingly using roadside forest patches in interior parts of the state as drinking spots, often venturing 100 to 200 metres inside the forest to avoid public attention. After consuming liquor, many of them throw glass bottles recklessly in the area, leaving behind sharp shards that can severely injure wild animals.

According to a WSO survey, forest patches under Kamakhyanagar East range in Dhenkanal division, Bantala range in Angul division and parts of Keonjhar division were found littered with used liquor bottles. These areas are known elephant habitats where herds and solitary tuskers regularly move.

WSO said discarded bottles pose a major danger to elephants, which often trample broken glass and suffer deep foot injuries that can later turn fatal.

The organisation cited an incident from Hindol range in Dhenkanal in Nov last year, when a tusker with an injured foot was spotted near Paika Purunakot village.

Local residents found a large broken glass piece embedded in its foot and removed it after the elephant was operated upon. The animal, however, later died due to infection in the injured foot.

WSO secretary Biswajit Mohanty said roadside forest stretches have effectively turned into liquor consumption dens at many places. He urged the forest department to involve Van Surakshya Samiti (VSS) members in regular inspection and clean-up drives in forest areas up to 100 metres from roadsides.

He also demanded that awareness boards be installed at forest patches frequently used by visitors for drinking, warning against littering and mentioning penalties. WSO said such preventive steps are necessary to protect elephants and other wildlife from avoidable injuries caused by broken glass.