It's likely it's using the ash or charcoal to self-treat a stomach problem, animals are known to ingest non food substances to clear problems, charcoal, chalk, dogs eat grass when suffering from gastric problems.
Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
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Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#22Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species.
Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with balls, while others don't. On YouTube, I follow a cool guy who has a pure vegetarian pet cat getting along with many normal cats.
This particular elephant might have been simply curious about the smoke or might have been playing with it for the heck of it.
They are individual peculiarities and I don't think any conclusion can be drawn about the entire species from them.
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#23It's likely it's using the ash or charcoal to self-treat a stomach problem, animals are known to ingest non food substances to clear problems, charcoal, chalk, dogs eat grass when suffering from gastric problems.
Wouldn't the elephants say the same when watching a human smoking? Besides, swallowing charcoal and inhaling charcoal are completely different, I don't know how much good the latter would do for the stomach.
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#24I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
How does the cat obtain whatever missing nutrients cause most cats to be obligate carnivores?
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#25I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
I ask because I've always heard that cats are obligate carnivores and cannot live off a vegan/vegetarian diet[1].
[1] https://pets.webmd.com/features/vegetarian-diet-dogs-cats
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#26I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#27I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
...a pure vegetarian pet cat... How does the cat obtain whatever missing nutrients cause most cats to be obligate carnivores?
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#28I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
...a pure vegetarian pet cat... How does the cat obtain whatever missing nutrients cause most cats to be obligate carnivores?
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#29I don't see much value in trying to use logical speculation to generalize such behaviors to an entire species. Anybody who has observed animals and pets will have noticed how each and every animal has its own personality, likes, dislikes and peculiarities. Just like people, who, despite our airs, are just another species. Some of my pets eat people food which my other pets don't even look at. Some of them play with b…
...a pure vegetarian pet cat... How does the cat obtain whatever missing nutrients cause most cats to be obligate carnivores?
Re: Elephant 'smoking' footage baffles experts
#30I think some are too eager to project human vice and behavior onto an animal. It makes for a good story and we’re willing to delude ourselves, even professional observers. The article even used the word “puffing” and “smoking”—there was neither. It was clearly blowing the dust out before ingesting the bituminous material. If it had been liquid it was blowing away we’d read that it was having a swig and a swill of spi…