Animal Quote by Virginia Morell
““Often, when an elephant has just died, other elephants will back up to touch its carcass gently with their hind feet, then cover the body with dirt and sticks, and stand guard. (Intriguingly, elephants have done the same to the bodies of people that they either find dead or have killed. One young orphaned elephant in a South African sanctuary shrieked and moaned when it discovered the buried remains of its daily companion, a rhinoceros, that poachers had killed for its horn.) Chimpanzees, gorillas, some corvids, and dolphins also spend time with their dead, but overall, most species do not.*””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Elephant Whisperer by Lawrence Anthony, 2009
Elephants show grief and mourning behaviors, indicating complex emotional lives and social bonds with the dead.
In simple terms: Elephants mourn their dead.
Key Takeaway
Respect and protect animal societies.
Themes
grief
empathy
social bonds
animal behavior
Mood
reflective
empathetic
Type
observational
educational
When to use this quote
- wildlife sanctuaries
- conservation education
- animal rehabilitation
- ecotourism
Key Concepts
thanuroscience
ethology
emotional intelligence
Questions to Reflect On
- How do we differentiate animal grief from human projection?
- What responsibilities arise from recognizing animal emotions?
A Different Perspective
Mourning may be misinterpreted as anthropomorphic projection.
![“But yet, but yet . . . the night he died, they [the elephants] were right there outside his house. And they came every evening for the next week as the sun set, until his ashes were scattered on the land he loved. Then they left.” quote by Lawrence Anthony](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/563/lawrence-anthony-34923_next-week_but-yet-but-yet-the-night-he-died-they-t_758577.jpg)
