Sri Lanka digs moat around rubbish tip to keep hungry elephants out

Sri Lanka’s Government is digging a moat around one of its landfills to keep out hungry elephant herds and reduce conflicts between the animals and villagers.

Dozens of elephants lumber out of the forest daily into a garbage dump near the eastern town of Ampara, rummaging through mounds of rubbish for wilted vegetable scraps.

This has become a common sight at the country’s three largest landfills, which are located next to wildlife protection zones.

The elephants consume plastic along with the food scraps, which slowly kills them, officials say.