The study concluded that these animals exhibit behavior similar to burial rites performed by humans.
The scientists came to this conclusion by identifying five places where a small elephant was buried by elephants in northern Bengal (India) in 2022 and 2023.
The five little elephants, aged between three months and a year, died of organ failure, but it was discovered that the herd had carried the dead little elephants by their trunks and legs before burying them lying down.
In one case, the elephants trumpeted loudly around the baby calf lying on the ground, write the authors of the study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
However, it has been found that elephants only bury the little ones; as transporting dead adults is “impossible” due to their enormous size and weight.
Scientists have discovered that Asian elephants bury their dead babies. Photo: Pixabay
There was no human intervention in the burials
Authors Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy said their research found “no direct human intervention” in the burial of each of the five baby elephants.
According to the researchers, clear footprints of 15 to 20 elephants were found at the sites and observed around the burial sites.
The elephants buried the children in the irrigation canals of tea plantations, hundreds of meters from places where people live.
Elephants are known for their social and cooperative behavior, but infant burial has only been “briefly studied” in African elephants.
The phenomenon had not yet been researched in their Asian relatives. In fact, wild elephants in Africa and Asia are known to visit the remains of their adult counterparts in various stages of decomposition, but this study found different behaviors.
In all five cases, the herd “escaped the site 40 minutes after burial,” then avoided returning to the area and used parallel migration routes.
Asian elephants are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s list of endangered species.
It is estimated that there are only about 26,000 Asian elephants left in the wild, particularly in India. In addition, these animals have an average life expectancy of 60 to 70 years in their natural habitat.
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