SAN THA, THAILAND — A wild deer living in a Thai national park was found to have seven kilograms of trash in its stomach.<br /><br />Kriangsak Thanompun, a director from the Khun Sathan National Park in northern Thailand said the male deer had been eating plastic for a "long time" before it succumbed to death.<br /><br />The deer was found on November 25, by a patrolling officer, the BBC reports. According to the Bangkok Post, the animal appeared to have some hair loss and deterioration at his hoofs and was thin in appearance.<br /><br />An autopsy conducted on the wild deer found items such as rubber gloves, instant noodle packets, coffee packets, plastic bags and even underwear stashed in its stomach.<br /><br />Officials believe all that trash had blocked up the poor animal's gastrointestinal tract, though a further investigation will be launched.<br /><br />Thailand is a major producer of plastic waste due to strong demand in the nation, though it lacks an effective waste management system to recycle plastic, according to the Bangkok Post.<br /><br />Roughly 75 billion pieces of bags are thrown away in Thailand every year, the BBC reports, citing Greenpeace. <br /><br />Thanompun told BBC Thailand that the park plans to implement a scheme to get locals in the area to help collect discarded plastic and other waste.
