Mourning behavior in African elephants has been described previously. But the attitude of their Asian cousins to the death of one of their own remains less well known. Two Indian scientists, Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy, carefully described the burial of five baby elephants with the aim of “understand peri-mortem strategy and post-mortem behavior’ in these animals.
Collect information to better understand this behavior
To improve our knowledge of wild animals, we must always be able to observe their behavior. On the Asian continent, this unfortunately allows for the destruction of their natural habitat, bringing pachyderms and humans together while exposing their discreet habits for all to see.
Thus, the study area of the two researchers consisted of a mixture of fragmented forests, tea plantations, agricultural land and military installations. In a study published in February 2024 in the journal Journal of Threatened Taxaevoke the burial of five young elephants between the ages of 3 months and 1 year in North Bengal.
With the help of notes, photos, videos and long-term observations, scientists were able to better define the contours of this tragic behavior. Four veterinarians also wrote post-mortem reports to understand the causes of death.
Surprising position of the deceased
These young pachyderms who died of infections or cardiorespiratory failure were all buried in tea plantations and their elders took advantage of the layout of these sites. In fact, these plantations include irrigation canals to drain excess water during monsoons. Young animals were placed there.
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“The most surprising discovery of this study is the placement of elephant bodies during burial. In all five cases, the legs were vertical and the head, torso and dorsal parts were completely buried.“, the study underlines. Since the canals were not very deep, the limbs certainly could not be covered.”This behavior suggests that in a space-limited situation, herd members prefer to bury their heads rather than their feet.“, scientists assume.
They also noticed tracks of the same species around the canals, especially to level the ground, “denoting a concerted effort to bury dead bodies”. These were drawn into the canals by the proboscis or legs, something impossible if the deceased was an adult. AND “Based on external examination of the carcasses, we also suggest that the baby elephants were gently positioned by grabbing one or more legs by members of the group.”the researchers write.
“Common ground for life and death“
When the elephants buried their young companions, the caretakers of the plantations sometimes heard them vocalize for many minutes. Then these mammals tended to leave during their journeys and then take another route, thus avoiding burial. “This behavior appears novel and contrasts with that of African species that spend a lot of time exploring and examining elephant remains.“, emphasizes the study.
“Through direct and indirect evidence, this study highlights the helpfulness and compassionate behavior of elephants during burial” from one of their own, both researchers note. However, this discovery should not be generalized, they warn. Pachyderms may behave very differently when they are not on plantations. However, in this case, Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy noticed it“Apart from these elephant burials, the tea plantations of North Bengal also witness their births, providing a common ground for life and death.”