death among mammals

Three-month-old baby elephant “Lola” died a few days ago from a massive blood clot at the Munich Zoo. Returning from the veterinary hospital, her body was placed in the familiar enclosure so that her mother “Panang” and relatives could investigate. First the mother and then each member of the herd scanned the body with their trunks, sniffing and noting the absence of life. Once done, they turned to go about their normal routines. According to her caretaker, this instinctive ritual was necessary to determine that the little one was not lost (which would trigger a collective search), but dead.

I remember several deaths during my childhood (a grandmother, a neighbour, and a cousin) which involved viewing and touching of the body at home prior to transport to the cemetery. This experience imprinted the person’s departure on everyone’s awareness, stimulated reminiscences about the departed, and, more importantly, facilitated the letting-go and moving-on among the living. By contrast, the death of my mother (while I was still an infant) and that of my father (while we were estranged and living continents apart), did not allow for such rituals and may well have been the cause of prolonged and fitful grieving.

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