Elephants dying from eating plastic waste in Sri Lankan dump

Wild elephants scavenge for food at an open landfill in Pallakkadu village in Ampara district (Achala Pussalla/AP)

Conservationists and veterinarians are warning that plastic waste in an open landfill in eastern Sri Lanka is killing elephants in the region, after two more were found dead over the weekend.

Around 20 elephants have died over the last eight years after consuming plastic trash in the dump in Pallakkadu village in Ampara district, about 130 miles east of the capital, Colombo.