The Mourning Rituals Of Animals

Though we are commanded in the Bible to be stewards of the animals, we often forget how much we share with them. In our conceit, we often feel that we are the only ones to mourn the loss of close relatives and friends, but there are many instances of grieving behavior in the animal kingdom as well.

There are videos, for example, of elephants forming a protective circle around the bones of their compatriots. In Kenya, one family group of elephants came across the bones of their matriarch. Each bone is picked up and every crevasse is lovingly caressed by their trunks as the bones are passed from one elephant to the other. Other bones are gently touched as well by their hind legs.

Elephants are known to have very strong feelings in general. Researcher Joyce Poole spoke thus after watching a mother elephant grieving over the death of her newborn: "As I watched Tonie' vigil over her dead newborn, I got my first very strong feeling that elephants grieve. I will never forget the expression on her face, her eyes, her mouth, the way she carried her ears, her head, and her body. Every part of her spelled grief." Baby elephants who have witnesses the death of the parent often wake up screaming.

Chimpanzees also show clear signs of mourning. Two chimp mothers in the forests of Guinea who lost their babies to a respiratory disease were observed carrying their dead infants for weeks after they had died. They groomed them, brought them to their night nests, and chased flies away from their bodies. Other chimps have spent time stroking and grooming a dying elderly relative and after its death, the grown daughter spent the next day by the side of her mother.

Scientists have observed a bottlenose dolphin pushing her dead calf to the surface over a period of two days, emitting mournful cries while touching the calf with her beak and flippers. Sea Lions have wailed pitifully when witnessing their young being eaten by killer whales. Zoos have taken to holding wakes for gorillas that have died to give their friends an opportunity to express their grief, which often takes the form of banging on their chest and howling, and in one particular instance, encouraging the friend to wake up with a piece of her favorite food, celery. Llamas, magpies, geese and many other animals have been also observed displaying grief behaviors at the loss of partners, friends and children.

The natural kingdom can be a harsh place, but if we allow ourselves to accept the novel idea that grief rituals transcends our species, then perhaps we can deepen our role as stewards for the betterment of all God's creatures.