Articles for tag: animal behavior, animal emotions, animal empathy, elephant behavior studies, elephant intelligence, elephant mourning, elephant social bonds, elephants and death, elephants and grief, grieving animals

The Science of Elephant Emotion

Why Elephants Mourn the Dead Like Humans

Gargi Chakravorty

In the wild plains of Africa and the forests of Asia, elephants display a behavior that feels hauntingly familiar to us: they mourn their dead. These gentle giants have been seen standing vigil over fallen companions, touching their bones with their trunks, and even returning to the same spot years later. Scientists believe these rituals ...