Five young Asian elephants were found mostly covered in tea plantation ditches in India’s Bengal region. But some experts question if they’re evidence of true burial practices.
, little has been reported about such emotions in wild Asian elephants. Now, an intriguing new study suggests they bury dead calves.
But several experts say they need more proof, especially because a person has not witnessed the burials, which occurred exclusively on tea estates. “The authors didn't present enough evidence that it was elephants doing the burying" on purpose, says Heidi Riddle, vice chair of theHe notes that actions described in the study, like carrying dead calves or kicking soil over a carcass, are normal for Asian elephants, but may not be actual burial behavior.
But there likely isn’t anything meaningful about the exposed legs in particular: If the burial spots were deeper, he suspects the elephants would also cover up the legs.Kaswan and other forest department officials examined the burial sites and found footprints of different-size elephants on both sides of the trenches and over the carcasses. This shows "a combined effort in burying the carcasses,” says Roy.
After the article's publication, however, retired forest officers and estate managers contacted the study authors to report seeing similar burials in years past., director of the Indian nonprofit Coexistence Consortium, has also witnessed it in northern Bengal, including at New Dooars Tea Estate, one of the sites including in the study.
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