Video of elephant enjoying 'phuchka' in Assam goes viral
What's the story
Phuchka, panipuri, golgappa - call them what you want, but this street food is a hit across the country.
As the crispy shell filled with spicy mashed potato dunked in sour tamarind or mint water breaks in your mouth, you feel immense pleasure grace your tastebuds.
But did you know Indian animals too have a penchant for spicy street food?
'Phuchka' fan
Elephant goes viral gobbling 'phuchkas' in Tezpur
A video of an unsuspecting phuchka fan from Tezpur, Assam has gone viral.
Gajraj is not your usual phuchka lover who'd guide and recommend the vendor to make the filling spicier, but he's a tusker who patiently waited to collect golgappas one after another as the vendor kept supplying him.
Passersby found the sight amusing enough to pause and capture videos of the foodie.
Street food
Even elephants enjoy spicy foods
In the video, the jumbo can be seen enjoying each bite while flapping its ears gently, which signifies joy in the pachyderms.
Even when his keeper (mahout), tugs him to move, he continues to gobble up the mass-favorite street food.
The video was initially shared by Soorya Puthran Karnnan on Instagram, and it has garnered over 17,000 views within a day.
Human-made foods
'Phuchka' and other human-made foods are harmful for animals
Internet users, elated to watch the elephant eat phuchka, have flooded the comments section of the reshared video with some hilarious comments.
However, phuchka is harmful to the tusker and might cause indigestion.
People are advised to not feed human-made foods like bread, spicy or oily items, and biscuits to animals and birds since they are difficult for them to digest.
5,000 Asiatic elephants
Assam has the second-highest number of elephants
Assam is home to nearly 5,000 Asiatic elephants, the second-highest number of elephants in India.
The Assamese respect the gentle giants and often worship them.
However, with receding forests and natural habitat, the conflict between humans and elephants have been on the rise lately.
According to Aranyak, an environmental NGO, 50 elephants died every year on average in the past few years.