A wild deer has been found dead in a Thai national park with 7kg of rubbish in its stomach, officials have said.
Rubber gloves, men’s underwear and other plastic waste were among the items filling the animal’s stomach, a spokesman for the Khun Sathan National Park told the BBC.
An official for the park, located in northern Thailand, said the deer had been eating plastic for a "long time" before its death.
The 10-year-old mammal’s body was found was found by an officer patrolling the beauty spot in the district of Na Noi, on November 25.
"We believed it had been eating those plastics for a long time before it died," Kriangsak Thanompun , a director at the country’s National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation Department, told BBC News Thai.
"Officials [believe] the plastics had blocked up its alimentary canal [but a] further investigation [will be] launched,” Kriangsak Thanompun.
Plastic bags, instant noodles and a small towel were also found in the deer’s stomach, prompting criticism on social media of irresponsible visitors littering the park.
"When you go into a national park, take your rubbish back. Have some responsibility," one Facebook user commented.
News of the deer’s plight comes months after a baby dugong died after ingesting plastic waste off Thailand's southern coast.
The sea mammal became an online sensation after images emerged on social media showing biologists embracing and feeding her with milk and sea grass.
Around 75 billion pieces of plastic bags are thrown away each year in Thailand, according to environmental group Greenpeace.
The country's environment minister announced in September that major Thai retailers would stop providing single-use plastic bags from January 2020 onwards.
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