Viewing the rare through public lenses: insights into dead calf carrying and other thanatological responses in Asian elephants using YouTube videos.

Documenting the behavioural repertoire of an animal species is important for understanding that species' natural history. Many behaviours such as mating, parturition and death may be observed only rarely in the wild due to the low frequency of occurrence, short duration and the species' elusiveness. Opportunistic documentation of rare behaviours is therefore valuable for deciphering the behavioural complexity in a species. In this context, digital platforms may serve as useful data sources for studying rare behaviours in animals. Using videos uploaded on YouTube, we document and construct a tentative repertoire of thanatological responses (death-related behaviours) in Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). The most frequently observed thanatological responses included postural changes, guarding/keeping vigil, touching, investigating the carcass, epimeletic behaviours and vocalizations. We also describe some infrequently observed behaviours, including carrying dead calves by adult females, re-assurance-like behaviours and attempts to support dying or dead conspecifics, some of which were only known anecdotally in Asian elephants. Our observations indicate the significance of open-source video data on digital platforms for gaining insights into rarely observed behaviours and support the accumulating evidence for higher cognitive abilities of Asian elephants in the context of comparative thanatology.

Behavioural responses of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) towards dying and dead conspecifics.

Reactions to dying and dead conspecifics have been observed in many non-human animals. Elephants, particularly African elephants, are thought to have an awareness of the death of their conspecifics, as they show compassionate behaviour towards others in distress. However, there is a paucity of scientific documentation on thanatological responses displayed by Asian elephants. Here, we report three detailed, directly observed cases of free-ranging Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) responding to dying and dead conspecifics. Behavioural responses were recorded opportunistically and described as pre-, peri- and post-mortem phases based on the status of the individual before, near or after its death. In all three observations, elephants showed approach and exploratory (sniffing and inspecting) behaviours, and epimeletic or helping (physically supporting dying calves) in pre- and peri-mortem phases. We also recorded high-frequency vocalizations (trumpets) by an adult female in the presence of a dying calf. Our observations indicate that, like their African counterparts, Asian elephants might experience distress in response to the death of conspecifics, and may have some awareness of death. This information furthers our understanding of the emotional and cognitive complexities of highly social elephants, and contributes to the growing field of elephant thanatology.