Wildlife conservationists in India captured amazing footage of a 'smoking' elephant that had some scientists scratching their heads.
In the strange scene, which took place at the Nagarahole National Park, the massive creature can be seen repeatedly picking something up off the ground with its trunk and then, shortly thereafter, unleashing a huge puff of smoke from its mouth.
One of the witnesses to the odd event was astounded by what he was seeing, but an elephant biologist in the group offered an enlightening explanation for the animal's weird behavior.
Since the creature was spotted roaming in a patch of forest that had just been burned down as part of a wildfire prevention program, Dr. Varun Goswami speculated that the elephant was eating the charcoal from the ground.
As to why the pachyderm would consume the smoky substance, Goswami posited that it could have been hoping to make use of either the toxin-binding or laxative-like properties of charcoal as a rudimentary form of medicine.
One hopes that is the case and that the elephant was not doing it simply for recreational reasons, because otherwise wildlife officials will need a really big 'stop-smoking patch' to help the creature quit.
Source: LiveScience