While visiting camera-trap locations as part of a long-term project to study tigers and their prey populations in Nagaharole National Park in India, WCS scientists and colleagues came upon an elephant displaying unusual behavior. I believe the elephant may have been trying to ingest wood charcoal, said Dr. Varun Goswami, WCS India scientist and elephant biologist. Charcoal has toxin-binding properties that may provide the animals medicinal value. Charcoal can also serve as a laxative, thereby doubling its utility for animals that consume it after forest fires, lightning strikes, or controlled burns.