We are excited to share with you a rare video shot by Mr Vinay Kumar, Assistant Director at WCS India, which captures a wild Asian Elephant exhibiting incredibly unusual behaviour – seemingly ingesting charcoal and blowing out the ashes!
source/image: WCS India Program
The video was taken while he, his colleague Mr Srikanth Rao and our field staff were checking in on our installed camera-traps in the park as a part of WCS India’s long term monitoring of tiger and prey populations in Nagarahole National Park, Karnataka.
There could be a number of reason why she was eating charcoal, but more than likely it was for its medicinal value.Charcoal may not have any nutritional value, but it is believed that wild animals often get attracted due to its medicinal properties, as it serves as a laxative.
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This is the first known video-documentation of a wild elephant exhibiting such behaviour, and thus had scientists and experts puzzled.
