A video has emerged of a desperate elephant feasting on rubbish from a bin in southern India as the area suffers from severe drought.
The ongoing situation in the state of Tamil Nadu has forced wildlife to take extreme measures — from raiding human habitats to feasting on trash.
The video shows a hungry elephant eating what appears to be paper and wood at the side of a road in Ooty town.
The giant creature snacks on the potentially hazardous garbage, little aware of the fact that it could be fatal.
Animal deaths have risen in Tamil Nadu over the past few months as the state suffers from its worst drought in a century.
It has forced the wildlife, particularly the elephants, to come down into human habitats in search of food and water.
In 2014, an elephant was found dead with around two kilograms of plastic waste stuck in its bowels in a forest clearing in the Pathanamthitta district of Kerala in the south of the country.
Sightings of the huge beasts are so common in the area that drivers often see them walking along the road side.
Conservationists say dumping urban waste in elephant areas poses a grave danger to the animal.