'Smoking' wild elephant scientists wonder! [video]

The Dhaka Times Desk A 'smoking' wild elephant in India has scientists baffled. A 101 second video is available on YouTube. Watch that video.

The world has started a discussion about this smoking elephant. A 101 second video is available on YouTube. It shows that the elephant's mouth is really puffing out.

Meanwhile, the Wildlife Conservation Society of India said in a statement that the video showed the wild elephant doing something that no elephant has ever been seen doing before.

This kind of elephant behavior has surprised wildlife researchers. Vinay Kumar, a scientist from the Wildlife Conservation Society of India, came across the sight of smoking when he was working in the Nagarhole forest in Karnataka state. He videotaped the elephant.

Cameras were installed in the forest to collect footage of tiger movements and behaviour. Kumar saw the elephant nearby in the morning and took a video of it. In which it appears that someone had set fire to the forest. After it went out, the coals were still burning.

Vinay Kumar said, the elephant seemed to be swallowing the hot coal. The elephant was humming and releasing a lot of ash and smoke. It looked like he was smoking.

বিবিসি’র এক খবরে বলা হয়, যদিও এই ভিডিওটি ২০১৬ সালের এপ্রিল মাসে তোলা। তবে ওই ভিডিওটি সবেমাত্রই প্রকাশ করা হয়েছে। কুমার বলেছেন, এই ঘটনার যে কতখানি গুরুত্ব রয়েছে সেটি তিনি বুঝতে পারেননি। গবেষকরা অনেক কিছুই আবিষ্কার করতে পারে। তবে হাতির এমন আচরণ মানুষের চোখে এর আগে কখনও ধরা পড়েনি বলে জানিয়েছে ভারতের বন্যপ্রাণী সংরক্ষণ সোসাইটি। বিজ্ঞানীরা বলেছেন হাতিটি কেনো এমন করছিলো সে বিষয়ে তারা এখনও পুরোপুরি নিশ্চিত নন।

Biologist Varun Goswami has been researching elephants for a long time. He said, "We know that charcoal has benefits in controlling toxins produced in the body." Maybe that's why the elephant is attracted to it. Moreover, charcoal also helps in softening the stool. Still, scientists are trying to find an explanation for this behavior of the female elephant.

Watch the video