BY INNOCENT KIIZA
The pile of elephant dung looked ordinary. Fresh, damp and packed with half-digested grass, it lay beside a dusty game track in Uganda’s Queen Elizabeth National Park, one of Africa’s most celebrated wildlife sanctuaries. But a closer look revealed something that should never have been there.
A strip of green polythene bag protruded from the dung. Nearby were fragments of plastic water packaging twisted within the fibrous waste.
It was a shocking reminder that even elephants the largest land mammals on Earth are no longer insulated from humanity’s growing plastic pollution.
For conservationists, the discovery raises troubling questions. If elephants are swallowing plastic inside one of Uganda’s flagship protected areas, what does that say about the health of the ecosystem they call home?
Over several weeks, this investigation traced the journey of plastic waste from communities surrounding Queen Elizabeth National Park into the heart of one of Africa’s richest wildlife landscapes. Interviews with residents, conservationists, wildlife veterinarians, tourism operators, environmental regulators and the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) reveal an emerging conservation crisis hidden in plain sight.
Every rainy season, floodwaters rush down the slopes of the Rwenzori Mountains, carrying with them far more than water.
From Kilembe, Katadoba, Kasese Municipality and surrounding trading centres, drainage channels become fast-moving streams of plastic bottles, shopping bags, food wrappers and household waste. The torrents eventually empty into wetlands, rivers and sections of Queen Elizabeth National Park before flowing toward Lake Edward and George.
Roseti Kabugho 47 years, a resident of Kidodo village bordering the park, this cycle has become painfully familiar.
She says Municipal garbage collection is irregular, where sometimes taking weeks or even months without reaching communities down strew of the park. Since waste collection was privatized, households must pay for garbage removal. Many families cannot afford the fees.
“As a result, people dump rubbish wherever they can, When the rains come, the floods carry everything into the park.”Kabugho explains.
She says many roadside shops have no waste bins. Customers often discard plastic packaging immediately after use, allowing wind and stormwater to scatter the waste across the landscape. This showed that the problem extends beyond households.
Steven Bwambale, Brick maker who works near the park boundary, says plastic pollution has become an unintended consequence of poor urban waste management.
“Most of the plastics enter the park through floodwaters, Communities need more awareness, but authorities also need stronger enforcement.” Bwambale says
He believes drainage systems entering the park should be fitted with filtration barriers to trap plastic before it reaches wildlife habitats.
The discovery of plastic in elephant dung suggests that waste is no longer simply accumulating inside the park but also it is entering the food chain systems.
Wildlife veterinarian Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, founder of Conservation Through Public Health, warns that the consequences can be severe.
“When elephants swallow plastic, it can block their digestive tract, irritate the stomach and intestines, and reduce their ability to feed normally,” Dr Zikusoka explains.
Sharp plastic can puncture internal organs while larger bags can create complete intestinal blockages, causing dehydration, malnutrition, starvation and ultimately death.
Although Uganda has not officially documented elephant deaths directly linked to plastic ingestion, Kalema-Zikusoka says the risks are undeniable.
“Large herbivores consume enormous quantities of vegetation every day. If plastic is mixed with forage, they can easily swallow it accidentally.”Dr Zikusoka added.
She warns that plastics eventually break down into microscopic particles that contaminate soils, rivers, fish and eventually humans.
“What worries me most, is the steady accumulation of plastic over time. If nothing changes, protected areas like Queen Elizabeth National Park could become increasingly polluted, affecting wildlife, ecosystems and future generations.”Dr Zikusoka says.
A silent threat to wildlife
Uganda’s latest State of Wildlife Resources Report paints a mixed picture. While buffalo, zebra and Uganda kob populations continue to recover, elephants are moving in the opposite direction.
According to the report, elephant numbers in monitored protected areas declined from 6,621 in 2021–2022 to 6,352 between 2023 and 2025.
The report does not attribute the decline to plastic pollution. However, conservationists argue that the discovery of plastics inside elephant dung demonstrates another growing pressure facing already vulnerable wildlife populations.
Edwin Mumbere, Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment and Management (CECIC), believes the finding should serve as a national wake-up call.
“What surprised me wasn’t simply finding plastic in elephant dung, It was what that discovery represents.” Mumbere says.
He added that Elephants symbolize Uganda’s wild landscapes. If plastic is passing through such magnificent animals, then human pollution has crossed into the heart of our natural ecosystems.”
He argues that plastic pollution deserves the same urgency as poaching and habitat destruction.
“Poaching kills wildlife immediately. Habitat loss removes their homes. Plastic pollution silently poisons the ecosystems they depend on.”Mumbere says.
Inside Uganda’s flagship park
The Uganda Wildlife Authority acknowledges that plastic pollution has become an emerging conservation challenge.
The Uganda wildlife Authority Assistant Commissioner for Communications Bashir Hangi says plastics are found mainly around fishing communities, roads, drainage channels and areas bordering human settlements rather than throughout the entire park.
“Recent observations, including plastics found in elephant dung, confirm that wildlife are coming into contact with plastic waste,” Hangi says.
“Even a single case is significant because wildlife cannot distinguish plastic from food.”
Hangi mentioned that UWA conducts annual clean-up campaigns, ranger patrols and public awareness programmes while working with tourism operators to improve waste management.
However, Hangi admits that the park cannot completely protect itself from waste originating outside its boundaries.
“Plastic enters the park through visitors, neighbouring communities, fishing settlements and waterways. This is not only a protected area problem—it is a broader environmental challenge.”Hangi says
Tourism’s responsibility
Tourism operators insist they are doing their part.
Godfrey Ngaiza, Managing Director of Uganda Natural Tours, says guides brief every visitor about park regulations before entering protected areas.
“We provide waste bins inside our vehicles and ensure every piece of rubbish leaves the park with us,” Ngaiza says.
Ngaiza believes most tourism operators comply with UWA guidelines.
“The larger problem is waste washed into the park from surrounding communities during heavy rains.”
Why Uganda’s plastic ban isn’t enough
Uganda banned the manufacture, sale and use of plastic carrier bags below 30 microns years ago.Yet plastic waste remains widespread in a country.
William Lubuulwa, Senior Public Relations Officer at the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), attributes this to illegal manufacturing, smuggling, weak enforcement and continued public demand for plastic materials.
“Plastic pollution is also a behavioural challenge,” Lubuulwa says.
While enforcement operations have shut down illegal factories and seized prohibited plastics, Lubuulwa believes lasting solutions require cooperation among manufacturers, traders, local governments and consumers at larges.
Experts agree that preventing plastic from entering the environment is far cheaper than removing it once it reaches rivers, lakes and protected areas like national parks.
Solutions already exist.
Edwin Mumbere, Executive Director of the Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment and Management (CECIC), says that if country Improved waste collection, community recycling initiatives, stricter enforcement of plastic regulations, producer responsibility schemes and public education could dramatically reduce pollution entering Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Mumbere says that most successful interventions combine strong policy with community action. Countries like Rwanda have shown that strict plastic regulations can dramatically reduce litter. At the same time, community recycling programme, producer responsibility schemes, and plastic-free tourism initiatives have created jobs while protecting wildlife.
“Uganda doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel we can adapt these proven approaches to our national parks and surrounding communities, ensuring conservation also delivers economic opportunities for local people” Mumbere said.
As evening falls over the Kasenyi plains along lake George, another herd of elephants slowly disappears into the tall grass.
They continue grazing, unaware that human waste has become part of their habitat. The strip of plastic hidden inside one elephant’s dung tells a story far bigger than a single animal.
It is evidence that the boundary between people and wilderness is disappearing. If Uganda cannot stop plastic before it reaches its most iconic wildlife, the country’s protected areas may remain protected only on paper.
The fight to save elephants is no longer only about stopping poachers or preserving habitat.It is also about confronting one of the most ordinary objects of modern life a discarded plastic bag.
