Animalsin
mourning
ALBATROSSES
Laysanalbatrossesformlifelong,
monogamouspairbondsthatare
cementedwithelaboratecourtship
dances.Whenonememberofthe
partnershipdies,thesurvivingbird
willwaitonetotwoyearsbeforeeven
startingtolookfora newmate,going
throughwhathasbeen described as
a mourning period.GIRAFFES
In2011,scientistsobserveda lone
Thornicroft’sgiraffemotherstanding
guardoverherdeadinfant.Thisis
a decidedlyunusualbehaviourfor
giraffes,astheyrarelyremainstationary
forlong,andfemalesinparticular
spendalmostalltheirtimewithothers.
The mother stayed still, alone, and not48 BBC Wildlife September 2020ANIMAL GRIEF
flock-matesina waythathasbeenlikenedto
humanfunerals.Onemagpiewasobserved
gentlyproddingat a fallencompanion,before
gatheringsomegrassandlayingit besideits
body,asa humanmightlaya wreath.
Elephantsalsogatheraroundthebodies
oftheirdead.Inonereport,theentirefamily
ofa deceasedmatriarchsurroundedher
corpse,gentlytouchingherwiththeirtrunks,
asif tryingto lifther,whilemakingsounds
ofapparentdistress.Theherdeventuallyfell
silentandproceededto coverherinleaves
andbranches,beforestanding vigil by her
bodyfortwodays.Notlettinggo
Studiesofwhalesanddolphinsarea
particularlyrichsourceofresponsesto
death,andofteninvolveinteractionsbetween
mothersandtheirdeadcalves.In2018,an
orcaknownasTahlequahlosthercalfshortly
afterbirth.Shecarriedit onherrostrumfor
17 days,formorethan1,600km.Tahlequah’s
apparentshowofgriefattractedinternational
attentionandwascomparedto a mourning
humanmother.
Hervigil,thoughlong,wasfarfrom
uniqueintheanimalkingdom.Infact,
carryingdeadinfantsis oneofthemost
prevalentofalldeathrelatedanimal
behaviours.Mostprolificat thisarenon-
humanprimates.Monkeysandapesof
severalspeciescontinueto carryinfantsafter
deathforextendedperiods,fromhoursto
months.Chimpanzeeshavebeenknownto
take this to extraordinary lengths. In 1992,A femaleshort-finned
pilotwhalekeepsher
deadcalfathersidein
thewatersaroundthe
Canary Islands.Ants(here,a leafcutter)
candetectdeathby
odourandwillcarrytheir
fallennest-matesaway
to dispose of the body.