Viral Video Shows Many Elephants Gather Around Their Lifeless Leader as They Mourn Over Its Passing
Do animals experience grief? Although the scientific community doesn't have a uniform answer to this question, anecdotal evidence exists.
For instance, when a researcher named James Anderson from Japan's Kyoto University was studying a group of monkeys, he observed something notable. One of the females fell from a tree and eventually died.
The alpha male of the group stayed beside her body, pulling and touching her hand. Afterward, he returned to the rest of the troop.
The researchers buried the monkey. Yet the alpha male, along with the group, went back to the place where she had passed away.
This incident wasn't unique. Another group observed at the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center (this time with chimpanzees) exhibited the same behavior.
According to researchers, other animals also have their ways of holding a funeral for a member of their group who has died. This has been observed in some species of birds.
Apparently, it happens with elephants as well. These creatures often have very close social ties. They frequently engage within groups and often play together.
This behavior occurs across all ages. So if we were to guess why they feel sadness when a member of their group dies, it's probably due to that social connection.
Today, we're going to look at the story of elephants in Sri Lanka and how they reacted to the death of their fellow creature.
Elephants are extremely protective of their calves in the herd.
For these creatures, their matriarch and family always come first. So, when an elephant leader dies, the herd mourns in a way that is difficult to comprehend—even for humans.
An elephant died after an intense fight with an enemy from another herd.
The unfortunate incident occurred in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, near the Kalawewa reserve. What people did not expect was the number of elephants that came to pay their respects to their former leader.
There were many of them.
Elephants surrounded their lifeless leader as they grieved on the banks.
The scene was captured on video. Reports indicated that around 300 elephants came to say goodbye to the leader they respected so much.
This elephant funeral lasted for several days.
Not all species have a concept of death. But with such a scene captured on camera, it's safe to say that elephants are aware of this concept.
Experts say that while intelligent animals, including elephants and chimpanzees, recognize that dead creatures will never come back to life, they may not be aware that death applies to all creatures. This knowledge is something that only we, humans, possess.
Humans have long believed that they are the only creatures with a sense of mortality. What defines us as humans is our awareness of death, along with other concepts such as logic, culture, language, and morality.
However, we must remember that the cessation of life we know as humans isn't the only one that exists. Other sentient beings have their own concept of death as well.
Have you witnessed a similar scene with other animals? How did they hold their version of a funeral?
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