Last Friday, Parveen Kaswan, a forest ranger with the Indian Foreign Service, shared a video of Indian elephants holding a funeral-like ceremony for a baby elephant.
This will move you !! Funeral procession of the weeping elephants carrying dead body of the child elephant. The family just don’t want to leave the baby. pic.twitter.com/KO4s4wCpl0
— Parveen Kaswan, IFS (@ParveenKaswan) June 7, 2019
Kaswan’s video quickly went viral, with social media users expressing their amazement and sympathy for the elephants. The footage, shared on Twitter, shows an elephant emerging from the bushes, gently carrying the body of a dead baby elephant in its trunk.
The adult elephant gently laid the baby’s body down and stood guard, waiting for more elephants to arrive. Soon, other elephants joined, walking in a line like a funeral procession, surrounding the baby. The first elephant then lifted the baby again, with the others following closely behind.
The Twitter post received over 5,000 retweets and more than 12,000 likes. Elephants, with their deep familial bonds, have long been observed grieving their dead—displaying rituals that, in their tenderness and reverence, echo the mourning practices of humans. This moving display touched us deeply. How did it resonate with you? Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments!