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Elephants intuiting a human friend's death !

ajay0

Well-Known Member
I recently came across an interesting story of a South African conservationist named Lawrence Anthony. He was known for his work amongst elephants.

It is said that just after Lawrence's death in his house, a group of elephants marched their way to his house for 12 hours, and hung around for two days before making their way to the bush. There is a number of reports in this regard.


” For two days the herds loitered at Anthony’s rural compound on the vast Thula Thula game reserve in the South African KwaZulu — to say good-bye to the man they loved. But how did they know he had died?
 

HonestJoe

Well-Known Member
There is always a risk of projecting our own emotions on to animals in this kind of situation. There is no evidence the elephants actually knew he'd died, though they would have known he hadn't come out to see them in a while. Elephants are intelligent animals and that intelligence is sufficient to explain their behaviour.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
There is always a risk of projecting our own emotions on to animals in this kind of situation. There is no evidence the elephants actually knew he'd died, though they would have known he hadn't come out to see them in a while. Elephants are intelligent animals and that intelligence is sufficient to explain their behaviour.

Elephants are one of the few animals that grieve. There are many documented cases where elephants have mourned their aid/trainer/even stranger who has died in the bush.
 

HonestJoe

Well-Known Member
Elephants are one of the few animals that grieve. There are many documented cases where elephants have mourned their aid/trainer/even stranger who has died in the bush.
Oh yes, I'm aware of that, I was specifically challenging the implication that their behaviour in this case could only be explained by them somehow gaining specific information via means unknown. Grieving an definitive death and grieving an unexplained disappearance would likely look very similar.
 

ChristineM

"Be strong", I whispered to my coffee.
Premium Member
Oh yes, I'm aware of that, I was specifically challenging the implication that their behaviour in this case could only be explained by them somehow gaining specific information via means unknown. Grieving an definitive death and grieving an unexplained disappearance would likely look very similar.

I assume their phenomenal sense of smell gives an indication.
 

YoursTrue

Faith-confidence in what we hope for (Hebrews 11)
I recently came across an interesting story of a South African conservationist named Lawrence Anthony. He was known for his work amongst elephants.

It is said that just after Lawrence's death in his house, a group of elephants marched their way to his house for 12 hours, and hung around for two days before making their way to the bush. There is a number of reports in this regard.

You really think or believe the elephants knew this man died and "came to say goodbye" to him?
 

ajay0

Well-Known Member
Going through some of Anthony's sayings from his books, I found some which were in sync with the above incident...


“The wrong way to go about this is to say: Well, researchers have ‘proved’ that animals only understand fifty words or something similarly absurd. Or that communication with other species is an illusion. Communication is not the preserve of humans; it is the one thing that is truly universal.”


“Years later I was in the Sudan on a conservation project when I heard an incredible story on good authority that sounded similar to my own. During the twenty-year war between northern and southern Sudan elephants were being slaughtered both for ivory and meat and so large numbers migrated to Kenya for safety. Within days of the final ceasefire being signed, the elephants left their adopted residence en masse and trekked the hundreds of miles back home to Sudan. How they knew that their home range was now safe is just another indication of the incredible abilities of these amazing creatures.”
 
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