Viral Video Shows Many Elephants Gather Around Their Lifeless Leader As They Mourn Over Its Passing

The elephants held their own funeral on the banks of a Sri Lankan lake.

May

• Published in Animal Stories
• October 1, 2022

Do animals experience grief? Although the scientific community doesn't have a uniform answer to this question, anecdotal proof 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 the body while pulling and touching her hand. Afterward, he returned to the rest of the troop.

The researchers buried the monkey. Yet the alpha male, together with the group, went back to the place where she passed away.

This incident wasn't unique. Another group observed in Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center (chimps this time) did the very same thing.

According to researchers, other animals also had their ways of holding a funeral for a member of their group who died. It was seen in some species of birds.

Apparently, it happened with elephants as well. These creatures often have very close social ties. They frequently engage within groups and often play.

This behavior even happens to all ages. So if we were to guess why they get sad when someone from their group dies, it's probably because of 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 are always first. So, when an elephant leader dies, the heard mourn 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 is 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 said 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 as scene captured on camera, it's safe to say that elephants are aware of the concept.

But experts say that while intelligent animals, which include 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, are aware of.

Humans have long believed that they are the only creatures with a sense of mortality. What defines us as a human is our awareness of death along with other concepts such as logic, culture, language, and morality.

But we have to remember 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?

May