The story of the elephant's compassion

Elephants mourn mourning know? The following photos, which describe the death of a female elephant and the reaction of the members of the pack, have helped scientists better understand the behavior of this animal.

Day 1: Efforts to help Eleanor

(Photo: nationalgeographic.com)

Grace, a member of an elephant family the researchers call Virtues, touches the sick Eleanor elephant, the First Ladies queen. Eleanor fell to Samburu National Reserve in Kenya on October 10, 2003. Grace tried to push Eleanor to stand up, although the sick elephant's revival was very short.

Elephants express compassion for others who are struggling, even with individuals without relatives close to them, the researchers announced this series of photos.

Before this photo was taken, Eleanor, a newborn mother, was found in a swollen condition, her skin was scratched on one side of her ear and legs, and the dentin was broken, perhaps from a previous fall.

About 2 minutes after Eleanor collapsed, Grace quickly approached. Its tail is erect and the temporal glands secrete fluid."These are typical alarm and stress signs , " said Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the team leader, founder of the non-profit Save the Elephants.

First day: Eleanor stood up

(Photo: nationalgeographic.com)

30 seconds after Grace's push (right), Eleanor stood up but was trembling.

Grace, shouting and seemingly excited, tried to push Eleanor away, but only for a few seconds, the hind legs of the sick elephant fell. Soon he fell again.

Day 1: Grace stays with Eleanor

(Photo: nationalgeographic.com)

When night fell, Grace (right), now left behind by her family, stood beside Eleanor, trying to nudge the unfortunate elephant to stand up. Grace stayed with it for another hour, but Eleanor could not take her, and Grace left.

At that time, Eleanor's family was 1.5 km away, away from the river, as elephants still do at night.

"When Eleanor fell ill, it lagged behind her. They often saw this female elephant catching up or leading oil. So we figured that her family did not know or witness Eleanor's decline", Iain Douglas-Hamilton said.

Second day: Eleanor died

(Photo: nationalgeographic.com)

Eleanor died on the morning of October 11, 2003. Soon after, Maui, a member of the Hawaiian Islands family, hesitantly approached Eleanor's body. He stretched the faucet, sniffed the corpse and put the hose into his mouth to taste.

Maui set foot on Eleanor's body. Then he walked over, stepping on his body with his legs and taps, shaking from front to back. All, Maui spent less than 8 minutes with the corpse.

Third day: Pay homage

(Photo: nationalgeographic.com)

Forest guards cut off Eleanor's trunk and took away the body's tusks, preventing it from falling into the hands of poachers.

The following afternoon, the elephants of the Biblical Towns family (left) allowed Eleanor's 6-month-old son to stay with his mother's body, although they had chased all members of the Eleanor family. The baby elephant died three months later, though he tried to suck other females in the flock.

Earlier, two members of the Virtues elephant family visited the body - Generosity and Grace, the animal that helped Eleanor two days earlier. Grace stood still, seemed to care but didn't suffer. Generosity sniffed the blood flowing around Eleanor's nasal cavity.

Does that prove that elephants also mourn? Although using the word " compassion ", Douglas-Hamilton hesitated to make this conclusion. "We intentionally don't use the word 'mourning', although there are clearly strong emotions and curiosities, perhaps miserable, among family members. But what we give in the article is objective and true. "

T. An