General Question

luigirovatti's avatar

Did you know elephants buried their dead?

Asked by luigirovatti (2963points) March 17th, 2020

They can visit an elephant graveyard centuries old and know instinctively where the bones of their ancient ancestors lie.

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17 Answers

Hawaii_Jake's avatar

I don’t believe you.

Patty_Melt's avatar

They don’t bury their dead, but if any get buried, they can sniff them out.
The show attention to the bones of other animals too.

Call_Me_Jay's avatar

From watching nature shows, I know they seem to mourn the dead, gathering around the body. And they seem to miss their dead friends and family.

Also they show joy when meeting old friends, even after years and years of separation. I’ve seen film of reuniting elephants and a keeper meeting his old charge

Get out your hankies!
Shirley and Jenny Two Elephants Reunited After More Than 20 Years

Caravanfan's avatar

They do not.

luigirovatti's avatar

Elephants will ‘bury’ their dead, covering carcasses with branches and even taking the tusks to be placed at a different spot. We cannot guess the precise meaning of that, but it’s clear that elephants are large-brained and social animals that live in complex groups. They recognise each other.

lucillelucillelucille's avatar

and they play piano very well

stanleybmanly's avatar

They certainly don’t routinely bury their dead.

SEKA's avatar

According to National Geographic they do, but I just don’t see it. What I did see was a herd grieving over a friend, but I don’t see them trying to bury her

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lucillelucillelucille's avatar

They are also involved in the arts

SEKA's avatar

The intelligence of most elephants fascinates me

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