Asian elephants have a very human-like habit – and it's heartbreaking

Baby elephant — Asian elephants show strong feelings when a calf dies (Picture: Getty/iStockphoto)

Elephants are famous for their emotions, intelligence and big hearts – now it seems that, just like us, they also bury and mourn their dead.

Researchers in India’s Bengal region discovered five cases of Asian elephants burying calves that had died between 2022 and 2023.

The team discovered in each case a herd had carried the calf as a group by the trunk and the legs, before burying the individual on its back, with its legs facing upwards.

In one instance, the herd roared and trumpeted loudly around the buried calf.

‘Through opportunistic observation, digital photography, fieldnotes, and postmortem examination reports, we suggest that the carcasses were buried in an abnormal recumbent style irrespective of the reasons for the calf’s death,’ authors Parveen Kaswan and Akashdeep Roy wrote.

Elephants, which live in tight-knit herds, are famous for grieving their dead, but the study noted only calves were buried due to it being impossible for them to move or bury adults.

Herd of Asian elephants walking through a grassy area — Elephants live in tight-knit herds (Picture: Getty)

The ‘funerals’ were attended by 15 to 20 elephants, and took place in irrigation canals on tea estates, far from the nearest human settlements. The herd ‘fled the site’ within 40 minutes of the burial, and later avoided returning to the area, changing their route during migration.