Trash-Eating Animals: Nature's Solution To Pollution?

Animals eating trash is a growing problem that poses a significant threat to wildlife. While it may seem harmless to toss a piece of trash out, it can have severe consequences for animals. Animals can get entangled in trash, especially plastic waste, which can lead to injuries or death. They may also mistake trash for food, ingesting indigestible materials that can force starvation, poison them, or cause internal organ damage. Additionally, trash can alter animal behavior and reproduction rates, as well as change their habitats. With global municipal waste expected to double by 2025, the issue of animals eating trash is becoming increasingly urgent.

Animals can choke or starve to death from eating trash

Whales, turtles, and seabirds often mistake trash for food, and if consumed, it can choke them or cause fatal stomach or bowel obstructions. For instance, sea turtles try to eat plastic bags because they resemble jellyfish, their natural prey. Similarly, horses, when faced with unlimited food, will continue eating until they block their windpipe and choke.

Litter, especially plastic, can entangle animals, hindering their movement and causing drowning or infections. Hundreds of thousands of marine mammals, including dolphins, seals, and whales, die each year due to entanglement in plastic and other waste products.

The ingestion of trash can also indirectly lead to starvation by filling the stomachs of animals with indigestible material. Additionally, it can poison them, causing sickness or death, and impact their behaviour and reproduction rates.

The presence of litter on land and in waterways can contribute to soil and water pollution, respectively, further endangering wildlife.

Animals can get entangled in trash and drown or get infected

Animals can suffer severe harm when they become entangled in trash. Marine animals, in particular, are at risk of entanglement in plastic waste, fishing gear, and other debris. This can hinder their movement and cause them to drown. Smaller marine creatures such as sea turtles, seals, porpoises, and smaller whales may drown immediately if entangled in heavy or large debris. For example, a Kemp's ridley sea turtle drowned after a plastic bag filled with sand wrapped around its neck.

Entanglement can also cause physical trauma and infections as the gear or trash cuts into the animals' flesh. This can lead to amputation and further increase the risk of infection. Even if the entangled animal survives, the experience can leave it deformed, as in the case of a sea turtle that was treated at the Sea Turtle Hospital at the University of Florida Whitney Laboratory.

Large whales, while not at immediate risk of drowning due to their size and strength, still face the risk of exhaustion and infection from entanglement. Entanglement is considered a primary cause of human-induced mortality in many whale species, including right whales, humpback whales, and gray whales.

The problem of animal entanglement in trash is not limited to marine life. Land animals can also become entangled, which can restrict their movement, cause injury, and increase their vulnerability to predators.

To address this issue, it is essential to properly dispose of trash, recycle whenever possible, and participate in community clean-up efforts. These simple actions can make a significant difference in reducing the harm caused by trash entanglement to both marine and land animals.

Pollution from litter can change animal behaviour and reproduction rates

Pollution from litter can have a profound impact on animal behaviour and reproduction rates, causing widespread decimation of species. Animals are attracted to landfills, where they feed on human waste, which can contain toxins and hazardous materials such as plastic, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and heavy metals. This can lead to a population boom, as seen in the case of white storks in Portugal, whose numbers have soared due to the abundance of food in landfills. However, the easy meals may come at a cost, as these storks are likely consuming plastic particles and other forms of waste, which can have unknown long-term effects on their health.

Litter can also cause entanglement, especially in marine wildlife, leading to injuries or death. It can block airways, fill stomachs, and cause starvation. Additionally, animals may mistake trash for a new source of food, such as sea turtles eating plastic bags that resemble jellyfish. Ingesting litter can directly harm internal organs, decrease mobility, and poison animals.

The presence of litter can also alter an animal's habitat and behaviour. For example, light pollution from artificial lighting can disrupt the reproductive timing of certain bird species, while noise pollution from traffic and industrial activities can mask acoustic signals used by animals to attract mates.

Overall, pollution from litter has far-reaching consequences for animal behaviour and reproduction rates, and it is essential to properly dispose of waste, recycle, and clean up litter to mitigate these impacts.

Animals can mistake trash for prey, like plastic bags for jellyfish

Animals can mistake trash for prey, which can have devastating consequences. One of the most common effects of litter on animals is entanglement, which can cause severe injuries or even death. However, animals can also be harmed when they ingest trash, mistaking it for food. This is particularly common among marine wildlife, with research showing that nearly 50% of cetacean and seabird species have ingested litter.

Sea turtles, for example, often try to eat plastic bags because they resemble jellyfish, one of their natural prey. All seven species of sea turtles have been found to eat plastic sheeting and bags, which can get stuck in their digestive systems, making them feel full and reducing their urge to feed, leading to poor nutrition and starvation. This issue is not limited to sea turtles, as a review by Kühn and van Franeker found that over 700 species, including seabirds, fish, turtles, and marine mammals, have been confirmed to eat plastic.

The ingestion of plastic can lead to internal injuries, intestinal blockage, starvation, and even death. It can also cause a loss of nutrition, as the plastic fills the animal's stomach, reducing their hunger and causing them to eat less. Larger pieces of plastic can block their gastrointestinal tract, preventing excretion. In some cases, plastic is ground into small pieces in the stomach and then scattered, further spreading plastic pollution.

Additionally, plastic can carry harmful pollutants and release chemicals that are added during production, which can enter the body of an animal if ingested. These chemicals can have unknown impacts on the animals and the wider ecosystem. While the long-term effects of consuming trash are still being studied, it is clear that animals mistaking trash for prey, such as plastic bags for jellyfish, can have detrimental consequences for wildlife and the environment.

Human food waste can disrupt animal reproduction and create population booms

Human food waste can have a significant impact on animal reproduction and population growth. It can also lead to the remaking of ecosystems and the disruption of social structures.

One-third of all food produced globally ends up in landfills. This waste does not stop being food when it reaches landfills; instead, it becomes an easy meal for various animals, including birds, bears, and insects. The availability of human food waste can disrupt animal reproduction and lead to population booms. For example, the population of white storks in Portugal has exploded from under 2,000 in 1995 to 14,000 today due to their access to landfills. Similarly, the Argentinean kelp gull population grew by 37% in just 15 years, which has been linked to the country's growing fishery industry, which dumps its discarded guts in open-pit landfills.

The easy access to human food waste can also lead to changes in animal behaviour and social dynamics. For instance, dominant male baboons in Kenya began fighting over food scraps from a tourist lodge, leading to increased aggression within the troop. Eventually, some spoiled meat infected and killed these males, resulting in a more peaceful troop dynamic as new males joined without the threat of aggression from dominant males.

Human food waste can also have indirect effects on other species and ecological communities. For example, the predictability of food waste as a resource can trigger population increases in opportunistic species, altering predator-prey dynamics. Additionally, the presence of human food waste can lead to increased interactions between wild and domestic animals, facilitating the spread of diseases and pathogens.

The impacts of human food waste on wildlife are complex and far-reaching. It is essential to recognise that human food waste can have significant ecological consequences and that proper waste management practices are crucial to mitigating these impacts.

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