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A little bit off topic, but as I understand it, Elephants are known to carry the bones of deceased elephants with them, and otherwise move them around. They mi
by gen220 6y ago
A little bit off topic, but as I understand it, Elephants are known to carry the bones of deceased elephants with them, and otherwise move them around.
They might not have graveyards, but they do appear to have some concept of mortality.
From this great article [1] on elephants:
> Even bare, bleached old elephant bones will stop a group if they have not seen them before. It is so predictable that filmmakers have been able to get shots of elephants inspecting skeletons by bringing the bones from one place and putting them in a new spot near an elephant pathway or a water hole. Inevitably the living elephants will feel and move the bones around, sometimes picking them up and carrying them away for quite some distance before dropping them. It is a haunting and touching sight and I have no idea why they do it.
[1]: https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/do-elephants-have-souls https://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/do-elephants-hav...
- meowface 6y ago>It is so predictable that filmmakers have been able to get shots of elephants inspecting skeletons by bringing the bones from one place and putting them in a new spot near an elephant pathway or a water hole. Inevitably the living elephants will feel and move the bones around, sometimes picking them up and carrying them away for quite some distance before dropping them. It is a haunting and touching sight and I have no idea why they do it. If they're truly reacting with similar emotions as when a human stumbles across a human corpse or skeleton, this seems kind of cruel to deliberately do just to get a compelling film shot.