Ellies bid farewell to a friend
Two readers witnessed a remarkable scene – and photographed it.
Readers Ilka and Michael Goth from Johannesburg write:
We had the privilege of watching a special elephant ritual in Botswana's Chobe National Park. On the way to the Ihaha campsite, we stopped alongside the Chobe river. It was hot and the elephants had come to drink and play in the mud.
One cow collapsed several times and tried to get up again. The other elephants tried to help her up, but eventually – after a blood-curdling scream – she lay down. After a while she stopped moving completely and it appeared as if she had died.
All the elephants turned towards her. It was completely silent. Even the little ones stopped playing. It looked as if they were saying goodbye. Later the elephants went about their business again, except for the group closest to her.
They lingered for a long time and touched her body with their trunks. Later only one elephant remained and sprinkled water over her body. We had to return to our campsite and left the two in peace.
The wildlife expert L.D. van Essen answers:
Most animals are not really interested in their dead. But there are cases where chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants show concern for sick or dead individuals of their species. Elephants often show interest in carcasses, even in bleached bones and skulls.
Research shows elephants from the same family will return to the carcass in the days after death, especially cows that lose a calf.
In this case, the elephants that stayed behind are probably part of the same family. However, it seems that elephants have a general concern for elephants and not just for their own herd.
Elephants will, for example, even guard and try to help an unknown elephant that has been shot with a tranquiliser dart. It is impossible, however, to determine whether elephants mourn.
They definitely show a reaction at a carcass, with secretions running down their temples. But we don't know whether elephants show compassion or experience suffering when they come across other elephants in pain.
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News24
6 hours ago
- News24
Ellies bid farewell to a friend
Two readers witnessed a remarkable scene – and photographed it. Readers Ilka and Michael Goth from Johannesburg write: We had the privilege of watching a special elephant ritual in Botswana's Chobe National Park. On the way to the Ihaha campsite, we stopped alongside the Chobe river. It was hot and the elephants had come to drink and play in the mud. One cow collapsed several times and tried to get up again. The other elephants tried to help her up, but eventually – after a blood-curdling scream – she lay down. After a while she stopped moving completely and it appeared as if she had died. All the elephants turned towards her. It was completely silent. Even the little ones stopped playing. It looked as if they were saying goodbye. Later the elephants went about their business again, except for the group closest to her. They lingered for a long time and touched her body with their trunks. Later only one elephant remained and sprinkled water over her body. We had to return to our campsite and left the two in peace. The wildlife expert L.D. van Essen answers: Most animals are not really interested in their dead. But there are cases where chimpanzees, dolphins and elephants show concern for sick or dead individuals of their species. Elephants often show interest in carcasses, even in bleached bones and skulls. Research shows elephants from the same family will return to the carcass in the days after death, especially cows that lose a calf. In this case, the elephants that stayed behind are probably part of the same family. However, it seems that elephants have a general concern for elephants and not just for their own herd. Elephants will, for example, even guard and try to help an unknown elephant that has been shot with a tranquiliser dart. It is impossible, however, to determine whether elephants mourn. They definitely show a reaction at a carcass, with secretions running down their temples. But we don't know whether elephants show compassion or experience suffering when they come across other elephants in pain.
Forbes
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A Biologist Spotlights 3 ‘Extreme' Snakes — By Strike Speed, Ground Speed And Air Speed
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Its gliding ability allows it to cover distances of up to 100 feet in a single leap, often traveling at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour. Measured by sheer velocity, that makes it the fastest snake in the world – though it only reaches these speeds while gliding. The snake's technique involves launching itself from a high point and using the air to support its long, flattened body, making it seem like it's flying. In reality, the snake is engaging in controlled freefall, steering with precise body movements to direct its glide. This specialized form of locomotion helps it escape predators, hunt for prey and move efficiently between trees in its dense forest habitat. There are five species in the genus Chrysopelea, but only four have documented gliding behavior. The exception is the Sri Lankan flying snake (Chrysopelea taprobanica), for which data on aerial locomotion is still lacking. While the other species are all considered skilled aerial travelers, biomechanical research suggests that the paradise flying snake is the fastest glider among them. While the paradise flying snake is venomous, its venom is mild and poses little danger to humans. Its primary diet consists of reptiles, birds and other small vertebrates, and its ability to glide gives it a distinct advantage in ambushing prey or escaping threats in the treetops. Curious to see how your fear of animals stacks up? Take our quick quiz to find out fast-moving creatures — like snakes that strike fast, slither, swim and glide — send a shiver down your spine: Fear Of Animals Scale
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There's a Shocking Reason Ticks Are So Dangerous (It's Us)
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During the 18th and 19th centuries, settlers cleared more than half the forested land across the northeastern U.S., cutting down forests for timber and to make way for farms, towns and mining operations. With large-scale land clearing came a sharp decline in wildlife of all kinds. Predators such as bears and wolves were driven out, as were deer. As farming moved westward, Northeasterners began to recognize the ecological and economic value of trees, and they returned millions of acres to forest. The woods regrew. Plant-eaters such as deer returned, but the apex predators that once kept their populations in check did not. As a result, deer populations grew rapidly. With the deer came deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) carrying borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. When a tick feeds on an infected animal, it can take up the bacteria. The tick can pass the bacteria to its next victim. In humans, Lyme disease can cause fever and fatigue, and if left untreated it can affect the nervous system. The eastern U.S. became a global hot spot for tick-borne Lyme disease starting around the 1970s. Lyme disease affected over 89,000 Americans in 2023, and possibly many more. For centuries, changing patterns of human settlements and the politics of land use have shaped the role of ticks and tick-borne illnesses within their environments. In short, humans have made it easier for ticks to thrive and spread disease in our midst. In California, the Northern Inner Coast and Santa Cruz mountain ranges that converge on San Francisco from the north and south were never clear-cut, and predators such as mountain lions and coyotes still exist there. But competition for housing has pushed human settlement deeper into wildland areas to the north, south and east of the city, reshaping tick ecology there. 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Fortunately for the ranchers, not to mention the cows, the U.S. Department of Agriculture sided with Rogers. Its cattle fever tick program, started in 1906, curbed cattle fever outbreaks by limiting where and when cattle should cross tick-dense areas. By 1938, the government had established a quarantine zone that extended 580 miles by 10 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas Brush Country, a region favored by the cattle tick. This innovative use of natural space as a public health tool helped to functionally eradicate cattle fever from 14 Southern states by 1943. When it comes to tick-borne diseases the world over, location matters. Take the hunter tick (Hyalomma spp.) of the Mediterranean and Asia. As a juvenile, or nymph, these ticks feed on small forest animals such as mice, hares and voles, but as an adult they prefer domesticated livestock. For centuries, this tick was an occasional nuisance to nomadic shepherds of the Middle East. But in the 1850s, the Ottoman Empire passed laws to force nomadic tribes to become settled farmers instead. Unclaimed lands, especially on the forested edges of the steppe, were offered to settlers, creating ideal conditions for hunter ticks. As a result, farmers in what today is Turkey saw spikes in tick-borne diseases, including a virus that causes Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, a potentially fatal condition. It's probably too much to ask for sympathy for any ticks you meet this summer. They are bloodsucking parasites, after all. Still, it's worth remembering that the tick's malevolence isn't its own fault. Ticks are products of their environment, and humans have played many roles in turning them into the harmful parasites that seek us out today. Sean Lawrence, Assistant Professor of History, West Virginia University This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the . 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