DO ANIMALS SHOW GRIEF?

A Caring Elephant That Died of Grief

A- Read this article about an apparently grieving animal.

By Sutapa Mukerjee, The Associated Press

LUCKNOW, India. Distressed by a companion's death, Damini refused to move, to eat, to drink.
For 24 days, zookeepers and veterinarians tried everything they could think of to save an
elephant who seemed determined to die.

Despite all their efforts, Damini died yesterday in her enclosure. After she had suffered for so
long, loose gray skin hung over her protruding bones, and bedsores covered much of her body.

Zoo officials said Damini was 72. She carne to the zoo last year after she was taken from
owners who were illegally transporting her. She was alone for five months until the arrival in
September of a pregnant younger elephant named Champakali.

Champakali carne from Dudhwa National Park, where she had worked carrying around
tourists. When she became pregnant, park officials decided to send her to the zoo in Lucknow
for a kind of maternity leave.

The two elephants "became inseparable in no time," said the zookeeper. Damini made herself
available at all hours for Champakali, who seemed to love the attention.

"Elephants are very social animals. They can form very dose bonds with others in their social
group," said Pat Thomas, curator of mammals at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. "lt's been
pretty well documented that they do exhibit emotions that we would consider grieving" when
a calf or other elephant dies.

However, he said, an age-related medical problem should not be discounted as well in the case
of an elephant as old as Damini.

On April 11, giving birth to a stillborn calf, Champakali died. Damini seemed to shed tears, then
showed little interest in food or anything else, according to zoo officials.

For days, Damini stood still in her enclosure, barely nibbling at the two tons of sugarcane,
bananas, and grass heaped in front of her.

Her legs soon swelled up and eventually gave way. After that, Damini lay still on her side, head
and ears drooping, trunk curled. Tears rolled down her eyes, and the four-ton elephant rapidly
lost weight.

A week ago, Damini completely stopped eating or drinking her usual daily quota of 40 gallons
of water, despite the 116-degree heat.

Alarmed, veterinarians pumped more than 25 gallons of glucose, saline, and vitamins through
a vein in her ear.

Yesterday, Damini died.

"It will take me some time to get over the death of my two loved ones," her keeper said.