Tourist drops bag of Cheetos in world-famous cave sparking ‘ecological crisis’ as scientists scramble to undo damage
A TOURIST dropped a bag of Cheetos in a world-famous cave - triggering "ecological crisis" as scientists scramble to undo the damage.
Despite water being the only thing visitors are allowed to consume inside the massive cave in NewMexico, a bag of Cheetos managed to land inside and cause detrimental damage.
The Carlsbad Caverns National Park claims the bag and its contents have created a "huge impact" on the cave's ecosystem.
A statement of Facebook said: "At the scale of human perspective, a spilled snack bag may seem trivial, but to the life of the cave it can be world changing.
"The processed corn, softened by the humidity of the cave, formed the perfect environment to host microbial life and fungi.
"Cave crickets, mites, spiders and flies soon organize into a temporary food web, dispersing the nutrients to the surrounding cave and formations.
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"Molds spread higher up the nearby surfaces, fruit, die and stink. And the cycle continues."
Rangers spent 20 minutes removing molds and debris from the delicate surfaces of the inside of the cave.
They added that while some members of the ecosystem that rose from the American snack were in the cave "many of the microbial life and molds are not."
The park's website states that eating and drinking anything other than plain water is not permitted and obviously attracts animals into the cavern.
They followed up their Facebook post making their "leave no trace" principle clear.
The post continued: "Contrary to popular belief, the cave is NOT a big trash can.
The mysterious cave was formed millions of years ago when sulphuric acid dissolved limestone and created cave passages.
It comes after residents have said "influencers are a killer" after a car graveyard was "destroyed" by graffiti and abandoned dinghies.
Scores of abandoned motors line the bottom of the mineshaft near the remote village of Corris Uchaf, south ,
The so called "Cavern of Lost Souls" became a haven for cavers over the years, drawn to its subterranean charms.
But now locals have hit out at "influencers" after the secret cave has been ruined by rubbish.
Enthusiasts fear day trippers whose sole purpose is to post pics on social media have now ruined the cult location.
Caver Anthony Taylor has hit out at the visitors he blames for trashing the site.
Speaking to the BBC he said: "It's just disgusting, really sad and disheartening. The whole reason people want to visit a place
like this is because they've seen it on the internet and think, 'That's an amazing place to go and see', so why would you trash it?"
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Anthony said parts of the cave were now strewn with discarded glow sticks and human faeces.
The walls were daubed with spray paint graffiti, more often associated with inner city areas.