You never quite know the context of YouTube videos. But it’s important sometimes, especially when a video has over 38 million views.

The video titled “Elephant Chasing Cycle Rider” by Jasoprakas Debdas was posted in May of 2016 and even if we count all of the people who have watched it multiple times, it’s safe to say it has been seen by millions.

But what many have not seen is that Jasoprakas Debdas has filmed over 1000 videos and that some of them show animals acting – to put it mildly – “spirited” or protective. And that may be because they’re antagonized to do so.

Jasoprakas Debdas worked as a municipal engineer in the Jalpaiguri Municipality in India. He was arrested in 2017 and it was reported by Indian news that he was being interrogated about his connections to animal poachers and smugglers.

That’s when some of his videos came into question – to what extent were they just a setup?

Debdas was accused of trespassing in Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Chapramari Forest and it was alleged that he disturbed and riled up wild animals – mostly elephants – to shoot some of his videos.

He was suspended from his job that year as a result.

According to One India:

“Debdas used to also fly drones in the core area of the forests to shoot videos. Debdas’s collection includes videos and photos include elephants, bison, peacocks, and other exotic birds. They [he and his accomplices] were charged under different sections of the Wildlife Conservation Act and Information and Technology Act.”

There’s been no follow-up on his trial and his social media makes no mention of it except for his fans to say they support him. A video regarding his arrest was posted but not translated into English, but one commenter defended him as an inspiration:

“Don’t they know what a great spokesperson you are for India’s beautiful forests, wildlife and care for Elephants? You inspire people to travel to your country! We hope all went well.”

At the very least, it’s more complicated than that.

The arrest was a few years ago and it certainly didn’t slow him down much.

But even if he were acquitted, it’s hard to believe elephants can be as aggressive as they are in some of his short films, especially when all people are doing is walking or riding down a road. It seems far more likely the animals were disturbed until they fought back.

In the clip of the bike rider, you can see the relatively nonchalant look on the bicyclist’s face.

It appears the elephant wanted to safely get its family across the road.

After a “chase” of only a couple of seconds in a 43-second clip, the elephant then simply turns around.

The elephant doesn’t appear to be disturbed by the cars, only the bicyclist.

It then gives its family the all-clear to cross, which they do peacefully.

Two adults and a baby end up walking across the road after the “incident.”

There’s no way of knowing why there was a bicyclist on the road, what he did to cause such aggression, and what the people in the vehicles were thinking. But that’s because Debdas “sells” his videos based on the simple idea that it’ll be interesting and terrifying to watch the elephant chase a man on the bike.

Hopefully, we can all agree it’s not worth disturbing a wild animal for this. We can certainly get our kicks elsewhere.

As for Debdas, he’s still at it and – to be fair – many of his videos attempt to show the wonders of nature.

As far as we can tell, he doesn’t address his arrest or mention any trial, conviction, or acquittal, and his Twitter profile does still describe him as an engineer.

Regardless, let’s all be a little more knowledgable of who is delivering out content to us online.

If you want to give him another click, you can scroll down below to see the video in question.

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Source: One India, Jasoprakas Debdas via YouTube, Jasoprakas Debdas via Facebook