Do elephants grieve when another elephant dies?

KohakuElephants are said to behave in a curious way beside an elephant that has died. Shall we take a look together?

The answer in 30 seconds

Let me share what we know and what we don't know yet, one at a time.

Elephants are known to approach the bodies and bones of other elephants and gently explore them with their trunks and feet. However, we don't know whether this is the same as human "grief." The interest is shown not only toward family members but also toward elephants they are barely related to, and scientists are still studying what it means.

A family of African elephants walking in a line across the grassland — A family of African elephants walking across the grassland. Elephants live in family herds.Photo: Cosal / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Approaching the body and touching it with the trunk

African elephants that come across the body of another elephant are often reported to approach it, sniff it, and gently touch it with their trunks and feet. A paper that brought together past observations says this behavior is seen not only with bodies that have just died, but also with bones that have turned white in the sun. Some elephants visit the same place again and again.

Choosing to examine elephant bones and tusks

In an experiment by a British university and others, researchers set out an elephant skull, a tusk, the skull of another large animal, and a piece of wood in front of wild elephant families. The elephants examined the elephant skull and tusk for longer than the other objects, and they showed especially strong interest in the tusk.

Figure: What elephants examined longest (experiment)

KohakuIt almost looks as if they can tell the bones apart. Isn't that surprising?

Interested even when it is not family

On the other hand, the elephants did not seem to pick out the skull of their own family's leader, a mother elephant, over the bones of other elephants. When an older female died in Kenya, several families that were not related to her by blood came to visit one after another, stopping beside her or touching her body. Their interest does not seem to be limited to family.

Is it grief? We don't know yet

We still don't know whether this behavior is the same as human "grief." Researchers suggest it may be a way of checking who is missing from the group. More research is needed, including on the fact that emotions seem to be involved.

Figure: What we know and what we don't know yet

Want to know more?

The soles of an elephant's feet can sense vibrations and touch, and in the experiment, elephants were often seen gently resting a foot on top of the tusk.
The story of an "elephant graveyard," where elephants go before they die, is considered a myth. It can be explained by bones found together after hunting or droughts.
When an older female collapsed in Kenya in 2003, the leader of another family rushed over at once and tried to lift her up with its tusks to help her stand.

KohakuElephants certainly take an interest in the bodies of other elephants, but whether that is "grief" is still being studied.

Quick quiz: test yourself

What do elephants do when they find a dead elephant?

Show the answer

Stay away from it
Bury it with dirt
Gently touch it with trunk and feet

Gently touch it with trunk and feet Elephants approach the body or bones and gently touch them with their trunks and feet. Whether this is the same as human grief is still unknown.

Sources

Elephant behavior toward the dead: A review and insights from field observationsPrimates（PubMed掲載）
African elephants show high levels of interest in the skulls and ivory of their own speciesBiology Letters（PubMed Central掲載）
Behavioural reactions of elephants towards a dying and deceased matriarchApplied Animal Behaviour Science（Save the Elephants掲載）

This article was written after checking the sources above as of 2026-10-03. Explanations may change as research progresses. Photo credits are shown below each photo.