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What is grief?

Grief includes a variety of emotions such as anger and sadness in response to losing someone or something important to you. Everyone experiences it differently depending on a number of factors such as your relationship to the person who has passed, or your previous experience of grief.

How can we know that animals grieve?

A lot of the evidence supporting the idea that animals grieve is anecdotal. However, in the absence of the ability of animals to communicate their feelings directly, we can make educated guesses regarding their internal state based on their external behaviours.

Elephants

Field observations of Elephants have provided support for the idea that elephants not only grieve their dead but also seem to have some post-death rituals. These include carrying and burying dead calves, but not adults, presumably due to the inability to move such large carcasses. They also visit their dead at various stages after death, and touch, smell and investigate the body. The strength of relationship prior to death does not appear to be important in whether they are interested in the dead. They will also interact more with other elephants near the carcass. This information seemingly helps them to update information regarding their social context. (1)

Chimpanzees

Four chimpanzees were observed in a safari park; Pansy (elderly female), Blossom, Rosy (Pansy’s daughter) and Chippie (Blossom’s son). Pansy was being cared for by veterinarians separate from her group but was reunited with the others when the head keeper anticipated her imminent death. In the 10 minutes prior to her passing, Pansy was groomed or caressed by the other chimps. Following her death, the other chimps checked for signs of life and refused to return to the place of death for days after it occurred. Chippie, the only male, also interestingly showed aggression towards the corpse. (2)

Magpies

Marc Bekoff observed magpies following a death. He found they brought grass over to the body and gently pecked their dead friend. This was termed a ‘magpie funeral’ by the ethologist. (3)

Orcas

In 2018, an Orca whale mother was seen carrying her dead calf for 17 days and 1,000 miles. Her calf only lived for about half an hour after being born, and was believed to be the third calf she had lost. Scientists termed this a ‘tour of grief’ and said it cannot be interpreted in any other way than mourning. (4)

Conclusion

What do you think? Have you witnessed animal grief? Let us know in the comments!

1. Goldenberg and Wittewyer, 2020
2. https://www.cell.com/current-biology/pdf/S0960-9822(10)00145-4.pdf
3. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/6392594/Magpies-feel-grief-and-hold-funerals.html
4. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/08/tahlequah-ends-tour-of-grief-mother-orca-finally-drops-dead-calf-after-carrying-corpse-for-17-days.html