Severalcetacean
specieshavebeen
seenwiththeirdead
calves,including
bottlenose dolphins.
eatingfortwohoursbeforefinallymoving
on.Similarbehaviourtowardsdead
infantshasbeenreportedinothergiraffe
species,thoughnot towards unrelated
dead giraffes.
DOLPHINS
In2012,a tourboatoperatorfilmedan
adultRisso’sdolphincarryinga dead
andbadlydecayedcalfonitsback.The
adultrepeatedlyswamawayfromand
thenbacktothecorpse,touchingit and
swimming in circles underneath it. The
dolphinthenpushed
thecalfawayfromthe
watchingboatand
outtosea.Therehave
beennumerousother
reportsofdolphins
touching,carryingand
stayingclosetodead
calves,evenwhenat
advancedstagesof
decomposition.
DINGOES
In2008,a motherdingowasobserved
afterthedeathofoneofherfivepups.
Theremaininglittermatesseemedto
sensea changeinthepupasit was
deadanddying,treatingtheirsibling
ina subduedmanner,refrainingfrom
theirnormalnippingandbiting.The
motherthenmovedthedeadpupupto
fourtimesovera two-dayperiod,gently
movingit fromplacetoplace,seemingly
in an effort to keep it near to the family.
BBC Wildlife 49
ANIMAL GRIEF
September 2020
LEOMAWILLIAMSisa writerand
PhDresearcher,studyingconflict
andco-operation in social animals.
FINDOUTMORE AndréGonçalves, death
among primates:bit.ly/2DE9Mp4
a two-year-oldwildchimpanzeediedofa
respiratoryillnessinGuinea.Hismother
carriedhisbodyslungacrossherbackforat
least 27 days,demonstratingextraordinary
careevenasit rapidlydecomposed–
groomingit andholdingit closeto her.Bythe
endofthisperiod,hehadbecomecompletely
mummifiedandalmostunrecognisable.
Fromtheseexamples,youmightconclude
animalsgrieveaswedo.Whyelsewould
a chimpanzeeshouldertheburdenofan
inanimateinfantif notbecauseofa deep
emotionalbondthatit couldn’tbearto break?
Weshould,however,bewaryofascribing
humanthoughtsandfeelingsto animal
behaviours.Justbecausea behaviourlooks
similar to that of a human, it doesn’t mean
Ant: Mark Mo