Tourism hazards: Discarded Cheetos packet puts US caves at risk

Tourism Hazards: Discarded Cheetos Pack Puts US Caves at Risk Credit: Canva/FB/Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Leave only footprints. A recent incident involving a potato chip package has brought this innocuous travel saying back into focus. A discarded packet of Cheetos poses a significant threat to bats and insects in the cave systems of Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico. These seemingly innocuous items are causing a domino effect that could have dire consequences for the delicate ecosystems of these subterranean habitats.

Recently, a tourist left behind a package of Cheetos, which ended up attracting a variety of insects, according to national park officials. In a Facebook post, park officials explained how this seemingly common corn snack became a feast for microorganisms. “Cave crickets, mites, spiders, and flies soon organize themselves into a temporary food web, dispersing nutrients to the cave and surrounding formations. The molds spread higher up on nearby surfaces, fruit, die, and stink. And the cycle continues,” the post said.

According to the post, rangers had to spend twenty minutes removing foreign debris and molds from the cave surfaces. “Some members of this fleeting ecosystem are cave dwellers, but many of the microbes and molds are not. On the scale of human perspective, a spilled bag of snacks may seem trivial, but for cave life it can change the world. Big or small, we all leave an impact wherever we go. Let’s all leave the world a better place than we found it,” the national park’s post said.

The problem of waste in tourist places is becoming more and more serious. Many tourist destinations continue to face overtourismIn addition, the number of visitors to these caves is also increasing, which in turn causes an increase in the amount of rubbish left behind, including food wrappers.