Coimbatore : Twitterati was overwhelmed with emotion as a video of a wild elephant carrying a dead calf went viral on Twitter and moved people's hearts across the globe.
Coimbatore : Twitterati was overwhelmed with emotion as a video of a wild elephant carrying a dead calf went viral on Twitter and moved people's hearts across the globe.
The video that was posted by Praveen Kaswan, an IFS officer from Karnataka shows a cow elephant carrying the carcass of a dead calf across a forest road, the location of which is unknown. The elephant lifts the calf across the road and stands on the other side for a while, waiting for the rest of the herd to cross and once all the remaining elephants had crossed, she slowly carries the carcass along with her into the bushes as in a funeral procession for the calf, which seemed half-decayed.
Posting the video on Twitter, Praveen Kaswan said, “This will move you!! Funeral procession of weeping elephants carrying dead body of the child elephant. The family just does not want to leave the baby.” In a follow-up tweet, Kaswan explained, “There are theories which talk about ancient elephant cemeteries in forest. Many people have written about it, including Strecy. But I have not found any conclusive evidence. Though in most cases elephants prefer to die near water bodies.”
The post garnered a wave of sympathy from around the globe as people replied emotionally and contrasted the tragic incident to that of callous indifference in humans. “This is heart rending. There’s a lot that humans can learn from animals,” read a tweet from Devika. “Compassion love and togetherness. What they have and we humans lack in this age,” tweeted Divya. “This is in stark contrast to a bunch of so-called human beings practicing their killing skills on a 2-year-old girl,” read a reply tweet from Reverberation.
Experts say elephants are known to have the habit of burying the dead, in order to keep the carcass safe from predatory animals that could eat the carcass. Scientists have observed elephants piling the dead bodies with dead leaves and sand in an attempt to bury it, which is otherwise known as elephant cemeteries. They would stand close to dead family members for a long while before leaving the dead family members. When older elephants are unable to move, they find safe places near water bodies where they can find water and food round-the-clock without travelling long distances. Hence, elephant carcasses are usually found near water bodies and rivers.
Not just elephants, but many other animals mourn the dead of close family members and especially their calves. Photos of monkeys carrying dead offspring have been widely spread on social media, showing glimpses of the complex and emotional nature of the animal kingdom.