From macaques to crabs, wildlife faces threat from face masks
12 January, 2021
Masks that helped save lives through the COVID-19 pandemic are proving a good deadly hazard for wildlife, with birds and marine creatures ensnared found in the staggering number of discarded face coverings littering animal habitats.
Single-work with surgical masks have already been found scattered around pavements, waterways and beaches worldwide since countries started out mandating their make use of in public areas to slow the pandemic's spread.
Worn once, the thin protective materials can take more than 100 years to decompose.
"Face masks aren't heading away any time soon - but when we throw them apart, these items can harm the surroundings and the pets who share our world," Ashley Fruno of animal rights group PETA told AFP.
Macaques have been spotted chewing the straps off out of date and tossed-aside masks in the hills exterior Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur - a probable choking hazard for the diminutive monkeys.
And within an incident that captured headlines found in Britain, a gull was first rescued by the RSPCA in the location of Chelmsford following its hip and legs became tangled in the straps of a disposable mask for up to a week.
The pet welfare charity was alerted following the bird was spotted, motionless but nonetheless alive, plus they took it to a wildlife hospital for treatment before its release.
"It's obvious the mask was there for quite a while and the elastic straps possessed tightened around his legs as his joints had been swollen and sore," said RSPCA inspector Adam Jones.
The biggest impact may be in the water, with green groups alarmed at the flood of used masks, latex gloves and other protective gear finding their way into already contaminated seas and rivers.
A lot more than 1.5 billion masks produced their way in to the world's oceans last year, accounting for about 6,200 extra tonnes of marine plastic-type material pollution, relating to environmental group OceansAsia.
Already now there are signs that masks are worsening threats to marine life.
Conservationists in Brazil found one inside stomach of a good penguin following its body washed through to a beach, while a good dead pufferfish was learned caught interior another off the coast of Miami.
French campaigners Procedure Mer Propre found a good dead crab ensnared in a mask in a good saltwater lagoon near to the Mediterranean in September.
Masks and gloves are actually "particularly problematic" for ocean creatures, says George Leonard, chief scientist from US-based non-governmental organisation Sea Conservancy.
"When those plastics breakdown in the surroundings, they form small and small particles," he advised AFP.
Those particles then enter the meals chain and impact entire ecosystems, he added.
There's been a shift towards greater use of reusable cloth masks mainly because the pandemic has worn over, but most are still deciding on the lighter single-use varieties.
Campaigners have urged people to bin them properly and snip the straps to lessen the risk of family pets becoming ensnared.
OceansAsia in addition has called on governments to improve fines for littering and motivate the utilization of washable masks.
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