Animal Funerals
On the heels of the "animal suicide" post, there's a short article in The Register about magpie funerals. According to Dr. Marc Bekoff of the University of Columbia, magpies have been observed grieving over the corpses of their dead friends. Not only did a particular group gather to observe and touch the corpse, they also left "offerings" of grass by it before flying off. Knowing that magpies are prone to gathering and collecting things, it makes one wonder what that's all about.
Full article here.
It's also fairly well-known that elephants pay a great deal of attention to the death of other elephants. There are many accounts of "elephant funerals," in which many individuals show up to gently touch the body of the deceased. (There is a photograph of this behavior at this link.)
Full article here.
It's also fairly well-known that elephants pay a great deal of attention to the death of other elephants. There are many accounts of "elephant funerals," in which many individuals show up to gently touch the body of the deceased. (There is a photograph of this behavior at this link.)