Asian elephants mourn and bury their dead calves: Study

A recent indian study has revealed that asian elephants will mourn their dead calves with behaviour reminiscent of human funeral rites.

This usually involves loud moaning calls as well as loud trumpeting that can last for 30 to 40 minutes, says ABC News Australia..

There have been five calf burials conducted by elephants and found by researchers in the north of India's Bengal region in 2022 and 2023, according to the study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. 

It was also found that the dead calves were carried by their trunks and legs to a preferred burial ground before being buried in a "legs-upright-position". 

"Through opportunistic observation, digital photography, field notes, and post-mortem examination reports, we suggest that the carcasses were buried in an abnormal recumbent style irrespective of the reasons for the calf's death," the study said.

"This strategic behaviour also reflects the care and reflection of the herd members toward the deceased.

"Elephants are caring and social animals, and based on external examination of the carcasses, we also suggest that the calves were placed delicately by gripping one or more legs by the herd members."

The elephants buried the calves in irrigation canals on tea estates, hundreds of metres away from the nearest human settlements.

Contusions on the bodies showed that they were carried from a distance to locate and bury them at a preferred location. 

In some instances scientists found they appeared to mourn the calf, loudly roaring and trumpeting around the burial site.  

"The elephant herd vocalised for 30-40 minutes, as the tea estate night security guards reported," the study said. 

The study found only calves were carried away for burial, as adult elephants were too heavy. 

Authors Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy said their research found "no direct human intervention" in any of the five calf deaths.

Footprints of 15-20 elephants were observed in and around the burial site, confirming the burial was carried out by an entire herd.

Three cases suggested the calves died of multiple organ failure and could have arisen for numerous reasons including falling or suffocating naturally. 

Elephants are known for their social and cooperative behaviour but calf burial had previously only been "briefly studied" in African elephants — remaining unexplored among their smaller Asian cousins, the study said.

Wild elephants in both Africa and Asia are known to visit carcasses at different stages of decomposition, but this study found different behaviours from the herds it studied.

In all five cases the herd "fled the site within 40 minutes of burial" and later avoided returning to the area, instead taking different parallel routes for migration.

The study suggested that with up to 22 months of gestation, the species invests "much of their emotional energy into their young ones, even after their demise".

Asian elephants are recognised as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

An estimated 26,000 of them live in the wild, mostly in India with some in South-East Asia, surviving for an average of 60-70 years outside captivity.