By Dean Murray via SWNS
Elephants have been observed carrying out human-like burials of their young.
A new study reveals that five dead Asian elephant calves were found buried on their backs in irrigation ditches in India.
The findings show the deceased were carried by trunks and legs for a distance before being buried in a ‘legs-upright-position’ – and the elephants vocalised their grief with trumpets and roars.
The discovery of the burial sites in the irrigation drains of tea estates also reflects how the species has adapted to human presence.
Research authors Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy report in the Journal of Threatened Taxa: “Rampant environmental changes and forest destruction push elephants, both Asian and African, to explore human spaces to fulfill their dietary and ecological requirements and, consequently in shared spaces many ‘novel’ elephant behaviors come into the limelight.
“Elephant calf burial is reported in African literature but remains absent from the Asian context. We report calf burials by Asian Elephants in the eastern Himalayan floodplains of the northern Bengal landscape.”
The study area consisted of fragmented forests, tea estates, agricultural lands, and military establishments, with tea estates forming the majority of elephant corridors.
The authors say opportunistic observation, digital photography, field notes, and postmortem examination reports suggest that the carcasses were buried in an abnormal recumbent style irrespective of the reason for the calf’s death.
They add: “Through long-term observation, we further report that the elephants in this region clearly avoid the paths where carcasses were buried.”
The study says local villagers near one of the tea plant burial sites heard the elephants vocalizing their grief.
“The tea garden management and the villagers observed the unusually prolonged vocalization of an elephant herd during their entire journey. This vocalization involved both trumpets and roars,” the study reports.
