A dead deer discovered in a Thai national park had 7kg (15lbs) of plastic waste in its stomach.

Park rangers found the adult male, estimated to be about 10 years old, at the Khun Sathan National Park in Nan Province on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the National Park told BBC News Thai: “We believed it had been eating those plastics for a long time before it died. Officials believe the plastics had blocked up its alimentary canal but a further investigation will be launched.”

The Bangkok Post reports that an autopsy found the waste to include numerous coffee and instant noodle packets, plastic bags, rubber gloves, tissues, underwear and plastic rope.

Thailand is among the world’s worst ocean polluters, according to a United Nations report released this month.

It struggles with poor waste sorting and disposal systems, while a growth in population and demand for consumer products means more single-use plastic ends up in landfill or leaks into the environment.

Between now and 2025, Thailand plans to ban seven types of plastics most commonly found in the ocean such as bottle cap seals, disposable bags, cups and straws.

This week, the Thai cabinet approved a ban on plastic bags at supermarkets and department stores belonging to 43 companies, starting on January 1, 2020.

The government said the policy was expected to save 45bn single-use plastic bags per year, or 225,000 tonnes, from incineration or landfill.