Have you ever wondered if animals feel sad when one of their own dies? It turns out, some animals do show signs of mourning, just like humans. Let’s explore how animals like crows, elephants, and dolphins react to death and what it might mean.
Crows are fascinating birds with a special connection to death. When a crow dies, other crows gather around and make loud calls. Scientists have even seen crows attacking people holding stuffed crows, as if they are protecting their fallen friend. This behavior is similar to a funeral, where crows come together to remember their lost companion.
Elephants are known for their intelligence and strong social bonds. When an elephant named Eleanor fell sick and died, other elephants, including one named Grace, tried to help her. Even after Eleanor passed away, different groups of elephants visited her body, touching it gently with their trunks and feet. This shows that elephants might feel grief and loss, just like we do.
Dolphins are also known to mourn their dead. Scientists have observed dolphins gathering around a dead calf, refusing to leave its side for days. They even stopped eating, showing signs of distress. This behavior suggests that dolphins, too, experience grief.
For a long time, people thought only humans could feel grief. However, observing animals like crows, elephants, and dolphins has changed that view. Animal researcher Barbara J. King explains that grief in animals can be seen through changes in their behavior, such as eating less or acting differently.
While we should be careful not to assume animals feel exactly like humans, it’s clear that they have their own emotions. Animals form strong bonds with their families and friends, and losing them can deeply affect them.
Many animals live in groups and form close relationships. They might not feel happiness or love in the same way humans do, but they experience something similar. When they lose a friend or family member, they might feel the absence and remember the good times they shared.
So, next time you see animals behaving in ways that seem emotional, remember that they might be experiencing their own form of grief. It’s a reminder that animals are more like us than we might think.
There’s so much more to learn about how animals experience life and death. Keep exploring and stay curious about the world around you!
Imagine you are a member of an animal group that has just lost one of its own. Choose an animal from the article—crows, elephants, or dolphins—and act out how you think they might react. Consider their behaviors and emotions. Share your role play with the class and discuss how it felt to express these emotions.
Design a mourning ritual for one of the animals mentioned in the article. Think about the behaviors they exhibit and create a short ceremony that reflects their way of grieving. Present your ritual to the class and explain why you chose those specific actions.
Keep a journal for a week, observing any animals you encounter, whether pets, birds, or wildlife. Note any behaviors that might indicate emotions, such as happiness, sadness, or mourning. At the end of the week, share your observations with the class and discuss how these behaviors compare to those in the article.
Choose an animal not mentioned in the article and research whether they show signs of mourning. Prepare a short presentation on your findings, including any scientific studies or observations. Present your research to the class and compare it with the animals discussed in the article.
Create a piece of art that represents how animals might feel when they mourn. This could be a drawing, painting, or sculpture. Use the information from the article to guide your work. Share your art with the class and explain the emotions and behaviors you aimed to capture.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
—
[MUSIC] This episode was sponsored by Dropbox.
A group of crows, an appropriate name, considering these birds’ special relationship with death. It’s not because they’re killers or because they’ll sometimes scavenge the bodies of the recently departed. When one of their own dies, crows will surround and call to the deceased. In one experiment, scientists holding taxidermied birds approached crows and were aggressively attacked. Of course, the masks didn’t help.
Crows hold funerals, which also explains the black clothing. We also gather around those we’ve lost to remember them and to console each other in times of sadness and grief. But are we the only creatures who experience these emotions? Do animals mourn their dead?
[MUSIC] Dying is a fact of life; it’s true for everything that’s ever been born, and it’s not a pleasant thought. After death, cells break down, and various organisms begin to decompose the body.
Being intelligent means that we understand a lot about how death happens, and the fact that it will happen to us. Thinking about mortality can influence our behavior. Humans are curious, anxious, and even frightened about death. A side effect of our intelligence is that we can envision the future, and ourselves and our loved ones won’t be part of it.
For a long time, scientists assumed that grief was unique to humans, but observing certain animals is making us reconsider. Eleanor was an elephant. Sick and injured, she fell behind her herd and collapsed. Scientists watched as another elephant named Grace ran to her side and tried to lift her up. Sadly, she couldn’t. Eleanor died. Over the next several days, her body was visited by five different groups of elephants, some completely unrelated to her. They circled the body, gently touching it with their feet and trunks, never out of sight even when predators approached.
That’s a poignant story. Scientists agree that animals have emotions, but projecting human experiences onto them is anthropomorphism. When elephants and crows hold funerals, are we imposing human emotions onto the lives of animals? Or are they truly experiencing grief?
Animal researcher Barbara J. King states that grief is a change in an animal’s behavior in response to death. They might alter their daily routines, adopt different body language, eat or sleep less, or even put themselves in greater danger. It seems that the elephants were grieving. Other intelligent animals exhibit grief in similar ways. Entire troops of chimpanzees will gather around and protect their deceased, and mothers may carry lifeless infants for days or weeks.
Scientists have also observed dolphins gathering around a dead calf, refusing to eat for days and guarding the body even after it began to decay. Many scientists are now certain that grieving isn’t exclusive to humans; it’s just that our expressions of it are more complex.
There are many behaviors unique to humans, but many are shared with animals. While projecting our emotions onto other creatures can be misleading, we can be confident that animals have their own emotions. These animals are deeply affected by grief. Some, like the crows, may use death rituals to understand death, but for others, there seems to be something more profound.
Many animals are social; they form relationships and experience positive emotions from their families and friends. Perhaps not happiness or love, but something akin to it. Animal mourning may arise from those memories and the realization of what is missing, which we can all relate to.
Stay curious. Follow me over to BrainCraft to discover some surprising ways that death can affect the minds of the living. And, if you haven’t eaten recently, join me over on Gross Science to explore how some of life’s tiniest creatures can reveal big mysteries about death.
This episode was sponsored by Dropbox. No matter what you create—whether you write it, draw it, mix it, or test it—Dropbox makes it simple to work the way you want. That’s why over 400 million people around the world use Dropbox to collaborate on any file with anyone from anywhere. Dropbox, all yours.
—
Let me know if you need any further modifications!
Animals – Living organisms that can move and respond to their environment, including humans, birds, fish, and insects. – Animals like dolphins and elephants are known for their intelligence and complex social behaviors.
Mourning – The process of expressing deep sorrow for someone who has died. – Elephants have been observed mourning the loss of a member of their herd by staying near the body for several days.
Grief – A strong, sometimes overwhelming emotion for people, often associated with the loss of a loved one. – Scientists have studied how crows show signs of grief when a member of their group dies.
Emotions – Feelings such as happiness, sadness, anger, or fear that are part of human and animal experiences. – Dolphins display a range of emotions, which can be seen in their playful and sometimes protective behaviors.
Crows – Intelligent birds known for their problem-solving skills and complex social structures. – Crows have been observed holding “funerals” where they gather around a deceased crow, which may be a way of learning about threats in their environment.
Elephants – Large mammals known for their intelligence, strong family bonds, and memory. – Elephants form close bonds with their family members and can become very upset when one of them dies.
Dolphins – Marine mammals known for their intelligence, social nature, and ability to communicate with each other. – Dolphins often work together to hunt for food, showing their cooperative behavior and strong social bonds.
Behavior – The way in which an organism acts in response to a particular situation or stimulus. – The playful behavior of young animals, like puppies and kittens, helps them learn important social skills.
Bonds – Strong connections or relationships between individuals, often seen in families or social groups. – The bonds between mother elephants and their calves are very strong, and they stay together for many years.
Death – The end of life for an organism, which can affect the social structure of animal groups. – The death of a leader in a wolf pack can lead to changes in the group’s hierarchy and behavior.
