How Animals Grieve

The Thought Vortex examined how animals respond to death, noting that other animals display behaviors associated with grief. Different species show different responses.

Elephants have been observed repeatedly returning to dead members of their species, chimpanzee mothers can carry their dead infants for days, dogs may eat less after losing a companion, and orcas have been observed carrying or pushing dead calves for days.

Humans have always treated grief like private property. We bury our dead in wood and stone. We keep their clothes folded in drawers we can't open. We hear their voices in empty rooms years later. ...Animals were supposed to be exempt from all of that. A body becomes an object. The group moves on. Nature doesn't pause for anyone, except that, again and again, it does.

subscribe to the Laughing Squid Newsletter

The post How Animals Grieve was originally published on Laughing Squid.