- Researchers in India’s Bengal region discovered five calf burials
- The herd carried the deceased calf by its trunk and legs before burying it in the ground.
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Heartbreaking new photographs have revealed the human-like burial practices of Asian elephants.
Researchers in the Bengal region of India discovered five calf burials in 2022 and 2023.
In each case, the herd had carried the deceased calf by its trunk and legs, before burying it in the ground with its legs up.
In one case, the herd roared and trumpeted loudly as the calf was buried, according to researchers at the Indian Institute of Scientific Education and Research.
Authors Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy said they found “no direct human intervention” in any of the five calf deaths.
Heartbreaking new photographs have revealed the human burial practices of Asian elephants
Researchers in India’s Bengal region discovered five calf burials in 2022 and 2023. In each case, the herd had carried the deceased calf by the trunk and legs, before burying it in the ground with its legs up.
From whales to chimpanzees, previous research has shown that many animals suffer just as humans do.
African elephants are known to mourn their dead and regularly visit their bodies, even after they begin to decompose.
Until now, however, researchers had not looked at the specific burial practices of their smaller Asian cousins.
In the new study, the team analyzed five elephant burials in the Bengal region.
They discovered that only the calves were taken for burial, while the deceased adults were left where they had died.
The researchers owe this to the “impossibility” of transporting heavier adult elephants by the rest of their herds.
In the new study, the team analyzed five elephant burials in the Bengal region. They discovered that only the calves were taken for burial, while the deceased adults were left where they had died.
The calves were buried in irrigation canals on tea plantations, hundreds of meters from the nearest human settlements.
The calves were buried in irrigation canals on tea plantations, hundreds of meters from the nearest human settlements.
Autopsies confirmed that the calves had died from multiple organ failure between three months and one year.
In terms of location, in all five burials, the deceased calf was found to be buried in the ground with its legs up.
“Elephants are social and affectionate animals, and based on external examination of the carcasses, we also suggest that herd members placed the calves gently, grasping one or more legs,” the team wrote in their study, published in Magazine Magazine of threatened taxa.
In terms of location, in all five burials, the deceased calf was found to be buried in the ground with its legs up.
Around each burial site, the team found “clear footprints” of between 15 and 20 elephants. In the photo: an elephant carrying a dead calf.
Around each burial site, the team found “clear footprints” of between 15 and 20 elephants.
In all five cases, the herd “fled the scene within 40 minutes of the burial” and then avoided returning to the area.
They even took different parallel migration routes to avoid burial.
The researchers hope the findings will encourage more research into the grieving behaviors of other animals.
“We encourage evidence-based scientific and social thanatological studies not only for sentient beings but also for non-sentient beings and less loved species in a changing natural and socio-political environment,” they concluded.
ELEPHANTS ARE HIGHLY INTELLIGENT AND VERY SOCIAL WITH ‘SOME HUMAN PERSONALITY TRAITS’
Research has established that the emotional characteristics of elephants are similar to those of humans.
It turns out that animals have different personalities.
They can be aggressive, attentive and outgoing.
For the study, scientists asked elephant riders, or mahouts, to answer questions about the behavior of the animals they worked with each day.
A new study has discovered that elephants, like humans, have different personalities. They can be aggressive, attentive and outgoing. The photo shows an elephant with its mahout or rider, with whom the animal works every day in the Myanmar timber industry.
Dr. Martin Steltmann, who worked on the new report, explained how his team defined the traits that categorize elephants.
He said: “Attention is related to the way an elephant acts and perceives its environment.
‘Sociability describes how an elephant seeks closeness with other elephants and humans and how popular they are as social partners.
“Aggression shows how aggressively an elephant acts towards other elephants and how much it interferes with their social interaction.”
Dr. Steltmann’s team is hopeful that the new research can help elephant conservation efforts.