Laura Parker, where the original title reads “Rare Video Shows Elephants ‘Mourning’ Matriarch’s Death’,” .. oignant scene from africa sheds light on animal bahaviour.
It has become rare for wild African elephants to live to old age, thanks to their brutal slaughter by ivory poachers. Rarer still is the chance for scientists to observe elephants as they cope with the death of their family leader. Shifra Goldenberg, a Colorado State University doctoral student, is among the lucky few. She watched the final days as Queen Victoria, one of the last surviving old matriarchs in the Samburu National Reserve in northern Kenya, died of natural causes in 2013, with her family members close by. When Goldenberg returned to the carcass a few weeks later, she encountered elephants from three separate families inspecting the bones. Were they paying respect?
Goldenberg’s 15-minute video of the elephants’ investigation, made available exclusively to National Geographic for the first time, is an important new addition to the growing body of research about the complexity of elephant thought and perception and their responses to death. The video not only captures an important ritual of elephant behavior, but reveals new insights about the strength of social bonds.
David Graham … 
