A screengrab of the video.
Credit: X/@WatchTowerGW
A wild Asian elephant recently chanced upon a 2.8-kilogram consignment of opium in South China's Yunnan Province, a report in the Strait Times said. A video of the incident went viral recently which showed four wild elephants crossing a forest when they come across a backpack. One of the jumbos is seen sniffing the bag and then tossing it in the air before moving on.
The backpack was later seized by local police, the report said. The police, who were already in the area then, got hold of the backpack and retrieved the opium.
The cops waited till the elephants left the area and then took the bag. The contents were revealed to be some clothes, under which there was a tightly packed brick of opium, the report said.
Social media users were quick to draw similarities with the recently released horror-comedy flick Cocaine Bear, which follows a huge black bear's adventures after it consumes a significant amount of cocaine and embarks on a drug-fueled rampage.
One user wrote, 'New sequel to Cocaine Bear, Opium Elephant'. Another user also put forth a suggestion to train elephants to sniff out drugs in the future.
There are innumerable incidents that have come to light that involved animals on drugs, inducing a hallucinogenic, intoxicating effect on them.
Interestingly, Vervet monkeys, as one research pointed out, can have a preference for consuming alcohol, and have been known to steal drinks from customers in bars!