The Animal Rituals We Understood All Wrong

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Animals give us squad goals. Their social bonds are equal parts aspirational and adorable. And in some species, their communities are so tight-knit that when one of them dies, others take notice. Around the globe, elephants are holding vigils. Magpies are burying their fallen comrades, and whales are clinging tightly to their lost calves. These death rituals are fascinating and sometimes look a lot like our own, raising a big question.

[00:00:28]Can animals have funerals? And if they do, what could be the meaning of them?

[00:00:33]To simply wave goodbye? Or is there something deeper going on? It makes you wonder, do animals grieve?

[00:00:46]Hi, I'm Taylor Scheise and you're watching Animal. Saying goodbye to a loved one is never easy. We homo sapiens use the word grief to describe the intense emotional and physical pain we feel when we lose someone important to us. But what if we're not the only ones who feel it? We can't ask animals what they're feeling. But we can watch how they respond when one of their own dies.

[00:01:10]Time and time again, they don't just walk away. They linger, investigate, and appear to hold ceremonies for their lost souls. It's hard to not anthropomorphize these events, meaning putting our human lens and emotional interpretation on them. But however we perceive it, there's no denying animals show great interest in their dead. So in this episode, we're exploring what might be driving this ceremonial behavior. And though there's a natural element of sadness to loss, we're looking at these events as moments to celebrate the beauty of social connection in the animal kingdom. Because as the saying goes, it is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

[00:01:51]So, let's start with one of the most captivating sendoffs ever, proving love can be as deep as the ocean. Meet Telqua, one of the most devoted whale mothers of the sea. In 2018, off the coast of Canada's Vancouver Island, this killer whale or orca took a tour of grief when she refused to let go of her newborn dead calf for an awe inspiring 17 days. The world watched as she swam an incredible 1,600 km, balancing her daughter's body on her own until she finally got the courage to say goodbye.

[00:02:25]The event captured hearts and minds everywhere to deeply ponder the emotional connection animals may have with their dead. It was also a reminder that killer whales are also loving whales. We don't know what caused the calf's death, but it's thought she was only alive for less than an hour.

[00:02:42]Scientists believe whales can recognize when a calf is dead, so Tlequa's behavior can be interpreted as a vigil for her lost daughter, expressing the bond between mother and child.

[00:02:52]Amazingly, Tlequa was spotted doing the same thing again in 2025 when she lost another calf. This time off Washington State's Northwest Coast. Also a daughter, she carried her for 11 days.

[00:03:05]This social bond between killer whale mothers and their offspring is one of the strongest in the animal kingdom.

[00:03:11]These are rockstar moms completely dedicated to the survival of their calves, giving up months, sometimes years of their lives to make sure that their family lineage survives. Killer whales are highly social creatures and mostly live in groups of pods closely connected to their moms and grandmas.

[00:03:29]Sticking in groups increases their chances of survival when it comes to hunting and sharing knowledge. They do this using complex vocalizations like clicks, whistles, and pulsed calls passed down in their pods through generations. They form unique acoustic clans to recognize their loved ones calls. Wow, talk about love language.

[00:03:50]Because of these close ties, it's not unusual for a mom to carry a dead calf.

[00:03:54]But the large amount of time and energy Tlequa spent on carrying her dead made scientists take notice. It's risky behavior because she couldn't hunt for food while balancing her daughter on her body. Luckily, Tlequa wasn't alone. Back in 2018, during her heartbreaking journey, her own mother, Princess Angeline, stayed right by her side, but has since passed away. And in 2025, her sister Kiki, known for her sharing her food, was spotted close by. Needless to say, we here at Animal Logic will be sending Tlequa a number one best whale mom badge stat immediately. She deserves it. Tlequa's viral story is just one powerful example of a bigger observation in citations. Marine mammals like whales, dolphins, and porpuses who have shown grief-like tendencies for their dead. Being together is part of their nature. And it's pretty much the same for us, even for meals. Everything is a little easier when you're around your friends and family. Hey, I didn't see you there. You know, summer's coming and we're all getting ready to gather around the grill and enjoy some delicious meals. Some of the things that I love to eat around the grill. I love grilled mushrooms. I love peppers. And obviously, Beyond Meat, like that. Not everybody here is a vegan. So, some people do have questions about plant-based foods based on claims that they've seen online. So, I looked into it and we're here today to bust some myths.

[00:05:20]Myth number one, plant-based foods are ultrarocessed and they're full of chemicals. That means they're bad for you. Not all processed foods are created equal. And plant-based foods made with clean label product certified ingredients are not the same as processed animal products or pastries or even candies. Some people will say that plant-based meat is filled with mystery products, but when you actually look at the label, it's a lot less dramatic than that. It's just plant-based ingredients. So, myth busted.

[00:05:50]Myth number two, plant-based meats are full of sodium. The new Beyond Beef and Beyond Burger patties have only about 14% of your daily value of sodium. Some people compare the sodium content of a Beyond Meat product to that of an unseasoned piece of meat. Now, that's not an apples to apples comparison because most people aren't eating unseasoned meat and seasoning has, you know, salt. So, myth busted. I know what you eat is your personal choice. So, I don't want to tell you what to eat, but I do want to tell you why I eat Beyond Meat and why I share it with all my friends. Besides being animal friendly, the number one reason is because it's delicious and that makes it great for everyone. Most people don't know this, but the majority of Beyond Meat customers are not vegan. They like it because they might just be trying to cut down on meat or simply because it's a delicious meal. So, stop believing the propaganda and come enjoy a nice Beyond Meat burger with us. Now, back together with the amazing animals who get together during difficult times. So, could these acts be funerals?

[00:06:54]Considering many citations have highly complex brains and cognitive functions like problem solving, self-awareness, and advanced learning, it's not a stretch to wonder if they could be experiencing grief. These same types of traits are linked to how humans process emotions. But we still have to be very careful with how we interpret these behaviors. There are some cautionary tales. In one famous scene of grief in Australia, a male kangaroo holds the head of his dying mate. Oh, looks sweet, right? Not so fast, say some scientists who have pointed out he may have just been feeling frisky. Skeptics say the kangaroo was likely attempting to mate with a female while keeping other males at bay, which is, you know, less sweet.

[00:07:42]The jury is out on this one, but it shows us how much we still don't really know about how nonhumans perceive death.

[00:07:49]The name for this field of research is called comparative thantology. It's relatively new but totally fascinating.

[00:07:57]And one of the most famous case studies in the field starts with our closest relatives. Chimpanzees are known for a lot of things. They're highly intelligent, resourceful, and social.

[00:08:07]But they're definitely not known for being quiet. So when 16 chimps went completely silent at a rescue center in Cameroon as one of their dead was taken away, the moment was unforgettable. The chimp was Dorothy, a maternal figure in her 40s and a dearly beloved friend of fellow rescue chimps at the center. When she died of congestive heart failure, her comrades looked on as if attending a funeral march. Dorothy had become more than just a member of the group. She took on a motherly role to an orphan chimp named Babool and became BFFs with many others. A volunteer at the center said her loss visibly rippled through the other chimps and their recurring silence was stunning. At the same time, some of the members seem to express anger at the situation, showing aggression and barking, denial, anger.

[00:08:56]It sounds familiar. Could these have also been stages of grief for the chimps? A viral photograph of the moment sparked a big conversation between the public, scientists, and philosophers about what these chimps may have been feeling. And Dorothy's passing became a key event in getting us talking about whether animals can mourn. Looking at how other primates have responded to death gives us some clues. In Rwanda, the separate deaths of two mountain gorillas in the same social group evoked some adoring responses from their circles. First was the death of Titus, a dominant silverback mountain gorilla who was reported to have been visited by members of his troop after he passed away. Part of the group of mourers was Tuck, a dominant female. About a year after the loss of Titus, she weakened and passed on. Her son Segera stayed with her corpse, gently touching it and even trying to move her head. He also groomed her and attempted to suckle on her body even though he had already been weaned. It looked like the loss of his mom affected him deeply.

[00:09:58]Primates are social butterflies that love physical touch and their cuddle puddles. Mutual grooming builds trust and reliance for emotional well-being and reproductive success. So, it's not surprising that those left behind wanted to stay in close contact with Titus and Tuck. But not every reaction was calm.

[00:10:16]Like in the case with Dorothy the chimp, some of the gorillas showed what seemed to be hostility at losing their friends, beating their chest, kicking their bodies, and screaming out.

[00:10:26]Interestingly, these types of reactions in gorillas don't stop at members of their same social group. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, researchers spotted a pack of silverback growers gorillas coming upon a dead member of their species. But unknown to their group. Instead of passing it by, they started circling the body and grooming the remains. This event is special because gorilla societies are typically very protective and outsiders are seen as rivals to be avoided or met with aggression. We can only wonder what motivated these gorillas behavior. But it's a very interesting phenomenon since such close contact with corpses could make them sick. So scientists are still trying to figure out from an evolutionary perspective why animals would invest time and energy interacting with dead animals that could be a health risk. Right now we don't have a firm answer to the question, but are starting to get more clues. And one of these hints comes from an iconic folklore symbol of death itself. Crows. In Celtic mythology, crows are often seen as messengers from the underworld. birds that can sense when death or war may be imminent. But beyond the myths, their real life behavior when it comes to death is just as captivating. When a crow finds a dead member of its own kind, it sounds off an alarm call, summoning its flock for a crime scene investigation. Any other crow detectives in the area swoop in and in a big rowdy mob, the autopsy gets underway. After about 15 to 20 minutes, the crowd of crows disperses and goes about their day. I don't know about you guys, but that sounds more interesting than a CSI episode to me.

[00:12:07]>> Scientists think there's likely a method to this madness, that it's a learning opportunity to share information about new threats in the environment and know what dangers to avoid in the future.

[00:12:17]It's like survival training and action, danger and avoidance 101. And when it comes to recognizing threats, crows are masters of memory. They're very smart with big brains for the size of their bodies. So smart they can even remember the faces of threatening humans and hold grudges for up to 17 years. Researchers from the University of Washington made this remarkable discovery while studying American crows. The story starts with a caveman mask. No, seriously. Back in 2006, the lead researcher wore one while tagging seven crows before their safe release. Later, when that scary mask was worn again, the crows didn't forget.

[00:12:57]They sounded the alarm to their friends and dive bombed the researcher. The dive bombers were a squadron of dozens more crows than the original seven that were tagged, suggesting information about this scaryl looking human was shared among the flock. Okay, but what does all this mask business have to do with funeral rituals? In follow-up experiments, the researchers got the birds together by drawing them in with food. Then a person wearing a mask carried a dead crow into the area and the person was divebombed and scolded and yelled at by the birds. Later, if they returned in the mask, even without a dead bird, they were also divebombed, essentially guilty by association. The crows were also less likely to be lured, even by a snack, as the area became associated with danger. So, while these crow funerals may not be about who can give the best eulogy for their pal, they are highly effective gatherings to learn about death. Crows belong to a group of smarty pant birds called corvids that also include ravens, jays, rooks, and magpies. There's also reports of magpies being pawbears. One animal behavior ecologist even watched as they gathered for a burial. After one of the birds had been hit by a car, four of its flock mates laid eyes on the open casket before returning with twigs and pine needles to lay near their buddy. The group stood in solidarity before eventually flying off. And as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

[00:14:29]The same is true of serial monogamists, penguins. In one extraordinary case at Sydney Sea Life Aquarium, a Gen Two penguin named Sven got a remarkable sendoff in bird song after he died at age 11. The Diddy was led by his partner, Magic, and a choir of their penguin friends. Sven and Magic captivated hearts everywhere after making headlines as a same-sex couple and raised two adopted chicks together.

[00:14:57]In the wild, when a penguin dies, it can cause confusion for the partner left behind, and they can go searching for their lost loved one. But in this case, aquarium staff showed magic what happened to Sven, prompting his eruption into song. Staff saw it as a sign of how powerful their bond was. A love story started the same way a human relationship might, through courtships.

[00:15:20]Magic and Sven, like other penguins, would bow their heads and sing to each other to build a connection. and then offered each other a rock. No, not an engagement ring, but a pebble. Gentu penguins are known to search for the finest stones to give to each other to build their nest together. How sweet.

[00:15:38]The emotional bond of penguins reaches all the way from Australia to Antarctica, the home of the emperor penguins. These brave animals are the only species that breed during the frosty Antarctic winters. Females can only lay one egg per season, and they don't even use a nest. The males carry the eggs precariously on their feet.

[00:15:59]These penguins sacrifice a lot to become parents, meaning their attachment to their chicks is very strong. So, if one doesn't make it, it's a devastating loss. When this has happened, companion penguins have been seen stepping in to console the grieving mothers. One friend even placed her head on the mother's head in what looked like a scene of camaraderie in the face of tragedy.

[00:16:21]These heartfelt funeral scenes kind of makes you wonder if animals can mourn for emotional reasons, might there be an evolutionary advantage for it? Even the big D Charles Darwin himself pondered this idea in the descent of man and questioned who can say what cows feel when they surround and stare intently on a dying or dead companion. If we look at us humans as an example, grief has deep evolutionary roots and awareness of death can be seen as one of the defining traits of homo sapiens. Psychologists believe our feelings connected to loss may have started when our ancestors became more social and started relying on community and cooperation to survive.

[00:17:05]And as our social bonds got stronger, so did our emotional attachment, shaping our ability to love and also feel pain when we lose someone close. The way we bury our dead reflects these bonds.

[00:17:17]Humans have been assigning meaning to death since ancient times. And our funerals have gotten ever more elaborate with every passing century. These rituals don't just honor the dead, but bring together the people left behind, acting like a support system when we're at our most vulnerable. Though they can be sad, they reinforce our social ties.

[00:17:38]And if our emotions are shaped to help us survive, could it be the same with animals? One species that's known for being huge emos are elephants. You may have even heard that they can cry. Well, they can shed tears at least. While they don't have traditional tear ducts like us, they have temporal glands behind their eyes that can create excretions when they're excited or stressed.

[00:18:03]Though, scientists think these tears are for lubricating dry eyes rather than emotional response. So, you might not see an elephant crying into their beer and writing a really sad country song anytime soon, but they have been seen holding some of the most iconic vigils around. When it comes to how we study animal grief, they're pretty much the gold standard because of the number of times we've seen them do this in the wild. Elephants gather around dead bodies of their own, often in a solemn and quiet way, touching the bones with the end of their trunks. And if the elephant is familiar to them, they call in members of their herd to come join the vigil. A gathering ensues with some elephants stroking and caressing the bones or scooping up sand and throwing it on their fallen. Some elephants even kick logs as if they're trying to release something they can't express.

[00:18:57]Their powerful sense of smell helps them sniff out when a friend or family member has died. This is because when an elephant's body starts to break down, changes to its chemical composition make it smell different and other elephants can detect it from a distance. African elephants in particular have the best noses of all mammals and can even smell water up to 20 km away. This and their tactile sense of touch gives them an understanding of what has happened and that it's time to let go. When it comes to elephants, there can even be state funerals where members outside of the same herd pay their respects. So, it's no coincidence that Queen Victoria, one of the last surviving matriarchs of an elephant group in Kenya, got a royal sendoff. Even members outside her community made the trek to come see her body. One of the most fascinating things about this is how long the elephant stood around for. Elephants have to feed for about 20 hours a day to get the nutrients they need. and every minute counts. So the time they took to stand around the body came with a direct cost to them. Yet they chose to do it. Each of them personally gave up something to fulfill these rituals. So there's definitely something bigger at play here. And it's not only big guys that have death rituals. Insects can be grim reapers. Though well-intentioned for the survival of the group, their death rituals are a little more like a cleanup crew at work. With insects living in such close social quarters, there's no room for delay when it comes to dealing with dead corpses, bacteria, and fungus can spread fast. So, when an insect dies, it's dealt with immediately without any pomp and ceremony. And while it may look as ruthless as a soprano's episode, it's a form of preventative medicine to stop other insects from infection. In honeybee colonies, an undertaker bee snatches corpses in its jaws and drops it outside the hive.

[00:20:52]Termites act as quick gravediggers and deal with their dead by burying them right into their nest. They detect death through a chemical change and move quickly. The eastern subterranean termite deals with its dead corpses in a matter of minutes. And risk plays a role. If the dead termite was from a related but different species, 10 times as many termites pitch in with the burial. More perceived risk means more resources on cleanup duty. Ants, on the other hand, have cemetery staff standing on duty. When one dies, worker ants carry it to a designated graveyard to save the colony from risk of disease.

[00:21:29]And in colonies that haven't formed yet, the queen of the black garden ant takes matters into her own hands, burying fellow fallen queens herself. All this is happening every day right in your backyard. But what goes on inside of our homes? We've been talking about wildlife, but what about domestic pets?

[00:21:51]Do they grieve? There's been many stories of dogs mourning the loss of their owners, even attending their funerals. In 2014, a German Shepherd service dog named Danny stood and whimpered next to his owner's casket who was killed in the line of duty as a Canadian police officer. The story made international headlines, reminding us the powerful connection between us and our pets. But do pets mourn the loss of each other if they share the same homes?

[00:22:19]Behavioral changes to routine may suggest yes. For households with more than one pet, dogs can respond to loss in noticeable ways. They may stop eating or drinking, search for their lost companion, or even bark to show their stress. Now, they may not know that their best bud has died, but they can clearly sense that something is different or missing. Incredibly, dogs can also sense when we are grieving.

[00:22:46]Because dogs are genetically wired to bond with humans, they can pick up on our stress levels. Researchers have even scanned dogs brains on MRIs and found that their cortisol levels, a stress hormone, rises when ours does. Dogs do this by detecting subtle changes in human body odors and our hormones produced during grief. And in turn, these chemical cues influence our pet dog's own psychological and emotional states. No wonder they're called our best friends. Now, this human dog connection may have got you thinking.

[00:23:19]Can animals of different species mourn each other? It's more rare, but there have been some incredible sightings. An elephant was seen mourning the loss of a buffalo as if it were her own after being killed by a pride of lions. And a famous case in 1984 showed Koko the gorilla expressing sadness when her pet kitten died. Researchers had taught Koko sign language, and she kept signing sad after her kitten's loss. This journey into animal funerals hasn't been easy.

[00:23:50]And neither is loss. But maybe that's the point. Because watching how these animals react to death makes us think deeper about the roles they play in life, showing us just how complex, sacred, and beautiful their bonds with each other and us can be. Whether we call it grief or something else altogether, these moments of connection are real and they give us a fascinating peak into the emotional lives of animals. It's a completely new frontier we're just beginning to discover.

[00:24:21]meaning lots more to explore in our future episodes. And before we wrap this one up, we couldn't finish this episode without mentioning some animals who aren't known for visiting their dead, but playing dead. Known as apparent death, it's a survival strategy animals use to mimic a dead corpse and ward off predators. We've done a whole episode on it, looking at everything from ants to desert beetles, snakes to sleeper fish, but none are better tricksters than these critters. Ever heard the phrase playing possum? Turns out it's not just a saying. When threatened, opossums play dead. On the spot, they keel over, go limp, foam at the mouth, and leak pee and poop to mimic a dead, decaying animal, helping predators pass them over in favor of something um cleaner. These award-winning actors are the only marsupials in North America. And though they give Oscar worthy performances, possums aren't even aware when they do it, the reflex is an automatic involuntary response to extreme fear.

[00:25:23]Kind of like how humans can faint under stress. So there you have it, the final curtain on this last act. But the show will always go on. And we hope these stories of animal funerals have left you with something special to remember. So what should we talk about next? Please let me know in the comments. And don't forget to subscribe for new episodes every week. Thanks for watching. See you.