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\begin{document}

\title{Unravelling ceremonial calf burials among Asian elephants in Northeast
India}



\author[1]{Parveen Kaswan}%
\author[2]{Akashdeep Roy}%
\affil[1]{Indian Forest Service}%
\affil[2]{Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune}%


\vspace{-1em}



  
  \date{May 19, 2024}


\begingroup
\let\center\flushleft
\let\endcenter\endflushleft
\maketitle
\endgroup





\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{abstract}
Rampant environmental change and forest destruction push elephants, both
Asian and African, to explore human spaces to fulfil their dietary and
ecological requirements. Many `novel' elephant behaviour in sharing
spaces come to the limelight. Elephant calf burial is reported in
African literature but remains absent from the Asian context. We
concretely report calf burials by Asian elephants in the eastern
Himalayan floodplains of the north Bengal landscape. The study area
consists of fragmented forests, tea gardens, agricultural lands, and
defence establishments, among others. Tea gardens form the majority of
elephant corridors, and we explain the burial strategy of elephants in
the trenches of tea gardens. We present four case reports of calf
burials by elephants. We aimed to understand the perimortem strategy and
postmortem behaviour of Asian elephants. The major findings reflect that
the carcasses were carried through trunks and legs for a distance before
burying in a `legs-upright-position'. We further investigated the
underlying reason for calf deaths through postmortem examinations.
Direct human intervention was not recorded in any of the four deaths.
Through opportunistic observation, digital photography and fieldnotes,
and postmortem examination report, we suggest that the carcasses were
buried in an abnormal recumbent style irrespective of the reason for
calf deaths. Through long-term observation, we further report that the
elephants in this region clearly avoid the paths where carcasses were
buried, attributing to ``bad milestones'' and ``bad omens''. We discuss
and connect the literature of two distinct elephant species and also
compared thanatological studies of other sentient nonhuman species.
Keywords: Thanatology, animal behaviour, Asian elephant, calf burial,
eastern Himalayas, tea gardens%
\end{abstract}%



\sloppy


Title: Unravelling ceremonial calf burials among Asian elephants in
Northeast India

Parveen Kaswan\textsuperscript{1} and Akashdeep Roy\textsuperscript{2}*

1 West Bengal Forest Department, Indian Forest Service, India

2 Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of
Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Maharashtra, India

* Contact information: Akashdeep Roy, Department of Humanities and
Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research
(IISER), Pune, Maharashtra-411008, India, +91-8802634741,
akashdeep.roy@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Abstract

Rampant environmental change and forest destruction push elephants, both
Asian and African, to explore human spaces to fulfil their dietary and
ecological requirements. Many `novel' elephant behaviour in sharing
spaces come to the limelight. Elephant calf burial is reported in
African literature but remains absent from the Asian context. We
concretely report calf burials by Asian elephants in the eastern
Himalayan floodplains of the north Bengal landscape. The study area
consists of fragmented forests, tea gardens, agricultural lands, and
defence establishments, among others. Tea gardens form the majority of
elephant corridors, and we explain the burial strategy of elephants in
the trenches of tea gardens. We present four case reports of calf
burials by elephants. We aimed to understand the perimortem strategy and
postmortem behaviour of Asian elephants. The major findings reflect that
the carcasses were carried through trunks and legs for a distance before
burying in a `legs-upright-position'. We further investigated the
underlying reason for calf deaths through postmortem examinations.
Direct human intervention was not recorded in any of the four deaths.
Through opportunistic observation, digital photography and fieldnotes,
and postmortem examination report, we suggest that the carcasses were
buried in an abnormal recumbent style irrespective of the reason for
calf deaths. Through long-term observation, we further report that the
elephants in this region clearly avoid the paths where carcasses were
buried, attributing to ``bad milestones'' and ``bad omens''. We discuss
and connect the literature of two distinct elephant species and also
compared thanatological studies of other sentient nonhuman species.

Keywords: Thanatology, animal behaviour, Asian elephant, calf burial,
eastern Himalayas, tea gardens

To 24/July/2023

The Editor-in-Chief,

Ecology and Evolution

John Wiley and Sons

Subject: Submission of Manuscript

Dear Professor,

I wish to submit a manuscript titled ``\textbf{Unravelling ceremonial
calf burials among Asian elephants in Northeast India''} to your
esteemed journal for publication\textbf{.} Our manuscript presents four
case reports of elephant calf burials by herd members in the North
Bengal landscape of India. The pre-built trenches in tea gardens provide
appropriate space for burying the carcasses. The `calf burial' behaviour
has been scarcely studied among African elephants and has not been
reported concretely from Asia. We aimed to understand the perimortem
strategy and postmortem behaviour of Asian elephants. The major findings
reflect that the carcasses were carried through trunks and legs for a
distance before being buried in a `legs-upright-position' -- showing the
adaptive significance and sentient behavioural patterns. To further
understand if these deaths would trigger human-elephant conflict in the
region, we investigated the underlying reason for calf deaths through
postmortem examinations and triangulated the findings through long-term
observation. We report that the elephants in this region avoid the paths
where carcasses were buried, attributing to ``bad milestones'' and ``bad
omens''.

This thanatological work is novel and highlights the evolutionary
process compared to African elephants and primates. Neither this
research work nor any part of this research has been published or
submitted elsewhere for possible publication. I will greatly appreciate
a constructive manuscript review with comments and suggestions.

Yours sincerely

Akashdeep Roy

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune

Pashan, Pune, Maharashtra-411008, India

Email: akashdeep.roy@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Mobile: +91-8802634741

\emph{Introduction}

Human-induced rapid environmental change often alters nonhuman species'
reproductive, nutritional, and physiological behaviour (Cosmides and
Tooby 2000; Chartier et al. 2011; Sih et al. 2011). Both Asian
(\emph{Elephas maximus} ) and African (\emph{Loxodonta africana} )
elephants face land-use challenges more than other species due to their
substantial dietary requirement and extensive home range (Young et al.
2007; Kshettry et al. 2020; Roy et al. 2022). Known for their strategic
planning and cooperation, these social animals also become victims of
environmental modifications, and the resultant low fertility and high
calf mortality rates emerge as noted unforeseen consequences (Mar et al.
2012). Realizing the slow reproductive rate in elephants (Macdonald et
al. 2013), calf deaths directly influence their population dynamics.
While these sentient megaherbivores constantly adapt to land-use and
environmental change to increase survival rates, they demonstrate
various novel behaviours. Conversely, in order to survive many such
behaviour, of their affection for their offspring, comes to the
limelight when they frequently use the human domain than before. One
such behaviour is how they farewell their deceased calves and the herd
behaviour thereafter.

The manner in which nonhumans address the dying and the dead reflects
their cognition and emotional side (Hawley et al. 2016; Watson and
Matsuzawa 2018; Carter et al. 2020; Fern\selectlanguage{ngerman}ández-fueyo et al. 2021). Animal
behaviour and thanatology, therefore, remain a central part of
understanding the overall fitness of nonhuman species in a changing
landscape (Gill et al. 2020). Most animal species, unlike humans, pay
less interest to their dead conspecifics. Different species' 'weak'
cognitive abilities and disease avoidance theories support this 'leaving
alone' behaviour (Goldenberg \& Wittemyer, 2019). However, cetaceans,
primates, and elephants show contrasting examples of strong behavioural
reactions to their deceased young ones. While most of such caring
behaviour between mother and the offspring among different species are
observed (Bercovitch, 2012), notably, the entire herd projects an
affectionate behaviour among elephants (Sikes 1971, McComb et al. 2006).
With up to 22 months of gestation, these K-strategist species invest a
lot of emotional energy in their young ones, even after their demise.

For instance, a behaviour where the elephant carcass parts were carried
across a distance, covering the carcass with vegetation (''weak''
burial), or observing the carcass over several hours has been covered in
various scholarships concerning African elephants (Douglas-Hamilton and
Douglas-Hamilton 1975; Goldenberg \& Wittemyer, 2019). Apart from
elephants, burial behaviour has been observed in termites
(\emph{Reticulitermes fukienensis} ) (Fernández-fueyo et al. 2021) but
in no other large mammals. Calf burials by elephants are among the
less-studied topics of thanatology, especially in Asia (Sharma et al.
2019), even though this practice is known to the conservation
gatekeepers. Elephants show a variety of behaviour ranging from
investigative, stationary, self-directed, social, and mourning behaviour
around their dead conspecific (Hawley et al. 2016; Goldenberg and
Wittemyer 2019; Watts 2019; Stephan et al. 2020).

Even though such sensory behaviours have been vastly studied, most of
these scholarships fail to report the exact cause of calf deaths and
weakly contribute to animal thanatology. The cause of death remains a
salient mediator to individual responsivity (Bercovitch 2020). We deem
it urgent as the herd's behaviour (especially the mother) would vary in
deaths due to natural illness and accidents (injury and wounding).
Calves up to five years of age experience mortality risks due to various
factors such as maternal age, sex of the calf, inter-birth intervals,
and whether firstborn or later-born (Mar et al. 2012; Rutherford and
Murray 2020). Controlled studies have reported 43.3\% of deaths due to
accidents among young calves (Mar et al. 2012), and therefore, the
resultant behaviour remains critical and dependent on the cause of
death.

From an evolutionary biology standpoint, natural illness and the
consequent death ultimately increase the fitness of the surviving
population (Fernández-fueyo et al. 2021). Thus, such an incident of calf
death wouldn't escalate the conflict against humans. However, in case of
accidental deaths (attributed to humans), revenge behaviour has been
observed across many species, such as elephants (Chalcraft, 2015),
primates (Watts 2019), and more recently among orcas (\emph{Orcinus
orca} ) (Anderson et al. 2016). Retaliation and revenge by elephants
escalate the human-elephant conflict (HEC) and pose a severe challenge
to wildlife managers and anthropologists. However, various
socio-ecological and political factors still determine the magnitude of
HEC, but such factors aren't included in this article. This study rather
contributes to the ecological behaviour of elephants, both peri and
postmortem, while investigating into death cause through postmortem
reports of carcasses and attempting to bridge the two different elephant
species and draw commonalities and contrasts between the two as far as
thanatology is concerned.

While the elephants occupy only 5\% of their historic home range
globally, India hosts more than sixty percent of the global Asian
elephant population despite being one of the most populated countries in
the world (Leimgruber et al. 2003; Sukumar 2006). As much as 78\%
percent of their current habitat lies outside protected areas (PAs) in
heterogenous landscapes (Naha et al. 2020). With ever-increasing human
population alongside livestock heads and agricultural land on one hand
and conservation efforts to increase the large mammal population on the
other hand increases the human-nonhuman overlap (Sukumar 1989; Goswami
et al. 2015). The Asian elephant is listed as Endangered on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of
threatened species and is regarded as a sentient being for its
intelligence. Many novel behaviours come to the limelight when elephants
use non-forested areas more frequently. The study's novelty lies in the
unique style of ceremonial burial of elephant calves inside tea gardens
(TGs) of north Bengal.

Along with a green cover and comparatively undisturbed passage for the
pachyderms, the tea gardens also provide ample stretch to trenches for
the burial of their deceased conspecifics. The trenches move out excess
water during the monsoon season to protect the tea bushes. However,
elephants reportedly use these depressions to bury their deceased
offspring. This study also presents the first photographic report of
dead calf burial by elephants in the tea gardens.

We aimed to (1) study the cause of death for the elephant calves, (2)
understand the rationale behind the unique carcass burial strategy, and
(3) observe the postmoretem behaviour among elephants near the burial
sites. We report the underlying reasons, from postmortem examination
reports for the calf deaths, anecdotal evidence of herd members during
peri and postmortem phases. This study contributes to the existing
literature on elephant behaviour and thanatology through a combination
of observation, analysis, and interpretation methods.

\emph{Materials and Methods}

This section presents the study area, methods of data collection and
analysis.

Study area

The north Bengal landscape comprises fragmented forests, tea gardens,
tributaries and distributaries, agricultural fields, and defence
establishments intersected by railways and highways (Figure 1). While
there has been a constant decrease in the wildlife habitat over the last
few decades, the four districts of north Bengal, namely -- Darjeeling,
Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar, together host more than five
hundred elephants (MoEF \& CC Report, 2017). The land-use and landcover
analysis highlights a forty four percent increase in human settlements
and a seven percent decrease in the sand bed area in the last decade
(Naha et al. 2019). Parallelly, Roy and Sukumar (2015) identified 59
elephant corridors, while eighty percent of these corridors experience a
high degree of encroachment. With shrinking ecological corridors but
considerate peoples' tolerance (Roy et al. 2022), the elephant
population increases and is 'pushed' through tea gardens, cited as
'natural corridors' in modern human-elephant conflict literature.
Exponential increase from 10,000 acres in 1866 to 50,000 acres in 1905,
the tea industry has emerged as a static livelihood option to many and
welcomed many migrants (Xaxa, 2019). The numbers grew further over the
next century and currently covers approximately 1350
km\textsuperscript{2} of land (Kshettry et al. 2020).

Data collection

We triangulated the findings through opportunistic observation, digital
photography and fieldnotes, and postmortem examination reports. These
are explained below:

Opportunistic observation

The jurisdiction of wildlife divisions in north Bengal spreads across
forest villages, revenue lands, tea gardens, and any other area where
wildlife is present. The four discussed case reports originated through
opportunistic observation. This method corresponds to spontaneous
observation and recording of the behaviour of any natural event by the
researcher or any concerned individual (Altmann, 1974; Carter et al.,
2020; Pokharel et al., 2021). The researcher then captures the event
through photography, field notes, videography, or audio recording,
followed by long-term observation.

Digital photography and fieldnotes

The researchers took photographs of these burial incidents, forest
department officials and the tea garden management, which were later
analyzed (Silva et al. 2017; Goldenberg and Wittemyer 2019; Carter et
al. 2020). The researchers and tea garden management collected evidence
of elephant visitation around the burial site. All the burial sites were
far from human settlements, and identifying the particular elephant herd
at night was challenging for the locals. However, the researchers and
tea garden management regularly monitored the specific pathways while
preparing field notes to look for indirect evidence such as dung boli
and footsteps.

Postmortem examination reports

Four veterinary officers conducted the postmortem report in the presence
of the forest officers of respective wildlife divisions. The postmortem
report of the deceased calves reveals the reason for deaths, underlying
illness, health conditions, and various parameters (see Table 1). While
other scholarships suspect the cause of calves' death through indirect
evidence (Goldenberg and Wittemyer 2019; Sharma et al. 2019), this study
gives detailed proof of the cause of death. Also, note that the
postmortem examination report reflects the estimated time of death of
the calf and deduces the 'in-transit' time and the time under the
ground.

\emph{Results}

We report four calf burial cases in different tea gardens in the study
area (figure 1). We present the findings in two sections, through (1)
internal examination through postmortem examination report and (2)
external examination and field anecdotes.

Internal examination through postmortem report (see table 1):

External examination and Field anecdotes:

The most contrasting finding of this study is the positioning of
elephant carcasses during burial. In all four cases, the legs were
upright, and the head, trunk, and dorsal parts were fully buried. Due to
the limited depth of the trenches in TGs, the legs of the dead calves
were visible above ground level (see Figures 2-5). We observed footsteps
of herd members on both sides of the trench and over the soil covering
the body, indicating a combined effort in burying the carcasses. While
mounting the carcass, the elephant herd vocalized for 30-40 minutes, as
the TG night security guards reported. All the cases had minute
contextual differences and are mentioned below as four different case
reports:

\emph{Case 1} belongs to Devpara TG, which falls in the jurisdiction of
the Jalpaiguri division. The burial site's location (26.829477° N,
89.009466° E) was 350 m away from the nearest human settlement and
approximately 4 km from the nearest reserve forest. It rained the night
of burial, making it easier for the herd (N=20) to mount the carcass.
Loud vocalization from the herd was observed distantly. Large petechial
haemorrhagic lesions and contusions were found in the dorsal surface of
the entire vertebral region (Supplementary Appendix 1). As per long-term
observation, the frequency of the elephant movement reduced by up to
seventy percent. Elephants have rather started using parallel pathways
and clearly avoid the previous path where the carcass was mounted. One
of the parallel routes also witnessed a human death in quick succession
after the calf mounting. However, such human death incidents could have
resulted from other socio-ecological and circumstantial factors. Fresh
elephant dung boli of different sizes were also observed near the
mounted carcass. The locals worshipped the deceased calf before the
forest department officials took it away.

\emph{Case 2} belongs to Chunabhati TG under the Binnaguri range of the
Jalpaiguri division. The burial site (26.860416° N, 89.072500° E) was
150 m away from the nearest human settlement and 4.5 km from the nearest
forest. Subcutaneous tissues were damaged, and wide haemorrhages were
observed on the dorsal side of the body (Supplementary Appendix 2). It
rained heavily on the night of the incident, and the soft soil layer
facilitated an easier burial process. No vocalization was reported in
this case. Elephant dung boli of various sizes present indirect evidence
that the herd (N=15) also consisted of adults, sub-adults, and young
adults. Although it's challenging to identify the particular herd at
night, but elephants clearly avoid the pathway of the mounted carcass.
Now, they take alternate routes to the nearby forest after night
grazing.

\emph{Case 3} corresponds to Bharnabari TG under the jurisdiction of the
Hamiltonganj range of the Buxa tiger reserve (Supplementary Appendix 3).
This burial site (26.764752° N, 89.361850° E) was 300 m from the nearest
human settlement. The tea garden management and the villagers observed
the unusually prolonged vocalization of an elephant herd (N=15 to 20)
during their entire journey inside the TG. This vocalization involved
both trumpets and roars. A fracture in the right hind limb was also
observed. Long-term observation on this particular pathway reflected
that elephants scarcely used this pathway, and the frequency hasn't
changed after the burial incident.

This TG was declared 'sick' in 2008 as the company was at a loss and
could not fully support the welfare of the tea garden residents.
Moreover, the TG was shut down between 2005-08 due to loss and
management failure. These socio-economic and political reasons
contribute to comparatively less human density in this TG, thus,
facilitating easier passage for the elephants. Footsteps of herd members
were recorded around the mounting site, and it seemed that the herd had
attempted to bury the deceased to ground level.

\emph{Case 4} belongs to Majherdabri TG under the jurisdiction of the
East Damanpur range of the Buxa tiger reserve (Supplementary Appendix
4). The burial site's location (26.544368° N, 89.557619° E) was around
500 m away from the nearest human settlement and close to the national
highway. The 'partially buried' carcass was observed by the TG workers,
which postmortem examination by the forest department followed. As per
the postmortem report, the calf died 60-72 hours before the examination.
We concretely suggest that the elephant herd must have roamed for 40-45
hours before finding an appropriate trench to bury the carcass;
otherwise, it would've been noticed by the TG labours previously.

Conversely, we also report a time lag between the time of death and
burial and that the carcass was dragged to the appropriate point. This
forest adjoining site allowed the elephants to access the trench and
return to the forest. As the carcass was detected after almost three
days, the kidneys were partially putrefied. Moreover, there were bruises
and contusions on the dorsal side of the carcass -- more than that in
the other reported cases. Thus, it indicates that the herd carried the
carcass through the trunk or the legs for a longer time.

The soil eruptions over the body of the carcass represent that rigor
mortis has passed, and the gaseous components blow out of the soil
before the carcass was detected. This phenomenon refers to ''postmortem
flatulence'' or colloquially ''burial explosion''. Rigor mortis among
elephants arrive after twelve hours and remain for the next twelve
hours.

Similar to other cases, this case was also peculiar as the elephant herd
abandoned this active migratory route after mounting the deceased calf.
They are reported to use different parallel paths after the incident.

Overall, we also observed contusions, mainly in the neck and dorsal
parts along the vertebral column in all the cases. It was accompanied by
hemorrhagic fluids in the trunks of most carcasses. Other observations
reveal that the mucous membrane was pale and dry, and the tongue was
soiled, congested, and inflamed in all cases. The average depth of the
trenches was found to be 0.65 m. No body part was missing. Field
observation from south Bengal shows carrying behaviour through the trunk
and legs (Figure 6).

\emph{Discussion}

Environmental change and land-use patterns often bring novel behaviour
to the limelight. This study highlights one such behaviour of carcass
burial by Asian elephants in the TGs of north Bengal. We present
confirmed anecdotes of carcass burials by elephants in the North Bengal
region. We reported four similar case reports to show the carcasses'
strange' legs-upright-position' and investigated the details of such
behaviour. Elephants are social animals, and their cooperative behaviour
has been widely published in scholarly articles. However, the 'calf
burial' component of thanatology remains briefly studied for African
elephants and untouched for Asian elephants. In this section, we compare
our case reports with the existing literature on thanatology in two
sub-sections, namely -- (1) perimortem and (2) postmortem behaviour.

Perimortem behaviour: Calf burial and other comparisons

In a first-ever recorded photographic and postmortem examination
evidence of deceased calf burials by Asian elephants, the study
contributes to the existing 'faint' knowledge about calf burials by
elephants globally. Through direct and indirect evidence, this study
highlights elephants' helping and compassionate behaviour during the
ceremonial burial of the carcass. A few generalities have to be made
about Asian elephants' calf burial behaviour arising from the four case
reports presented above.

We state that Asian elephants carry their deceased calves to isolated
locations away from humans and carnivores while searching trenches and
depressions to bury the carcass. Caring for and carrying the dead
offspring has been reported in both altricial (mostly primates:
Chimpanzees, baboons, and macaques) (Watts 2019; Carter et al. 2020) and
precocial (elephants, giraffe, and peccaries, for instance) offspring
(Watson and Matsuzawa 2018; Bercovitch 2020). There are unpublished
reports from the West Bengal Forest Department of an elephant cow
carrying the carcass for up to two days before leaving it in an isolated
location in south Bengal (Figure 6). Its worth noting that only calves
are carried and the young adults/adults are not due to non-feseability.
In most cases, these sentient beings do not leave the carcass until
putrefaction starts in the deceased calf or is taken over by the forest
department officials. Such affinity towards their offspring is
attributed to oxytocin and prolonged gestation period (Bercovitch 2020).
Such hormonal response aligns with other studies on Chacma baboons
(Carter et al. 2020), Olive baboons (\emph{Papio Anubis} ), African
elephants, and Thornicroft's giraffe (\emph{Girafa camelopardalis} )
(Bercovitch 2020). Published scholarships on African elephants have
reported calf burials in rare cases (Douglas-Hamilton \&
Douglas-Hamilton, 1975), but such literature remains absent from Asian
context (Sharma et al. 2019).

Our findings also suggest that the modified land-use types, such as tea
gardens, offer inclusivity and provide extended forest cover for
elephant movement. There are no trenches inside the PAs, and it's
exceptionally challenging to locate burial activities/sites inside the
closed canopy of semi-evergreen and moist deciduous forests of north
Bengal - quite similar to why thanatological studies have briefly
touched upon the less populated African forest elephants
(\emph{Loxodonta africana cyclotis} ) (Hawley et al. 2016). Through
extensive patrolling by the forest guards such deceased calves are often
detached from the herd to ensure normal elephant migration and the
subsequent crowd management which would have occured on seeing such
`novel' behaviuor. With ample trenches and no forest officials, the tea
gardens, in these cases, emerge to be a perfect land-use type for
burying the carcass. In addition to such ceremonial burials by
elephants, the TGs of north Bengal also witness elephant births -- thus,
providing a common ground for life and death.

The most interesting finding of our study was the positioning of the
carcasses in a 'legs-upright-position' in the limited space in the tea
gardens. The locals and many conservation gatekeepers often perceive
these ceremonial burials as' accidental'. The 'strange' positioning of
the carcass could be explained for better grip for the herd member(s) to
hold and lay the calf in the trench. This strategic behaviour also
reflects the care and affection of the herd member(s) towards the
deceased conspecific. This behaviour suggests that in a situation of
space crunch, the herd member(s) prioritize the head for the ceremonial
burial before the feet. Elephants are caring social animals, and based
on external examination of the carcasses, we also suggest that the
calves were placed delicately by gripping one or more legs by the herd
member(s). However, we observed petechial haemorrhagic lesions and
contusions on the dorsal side of the carcass in all the cases. The
contusions in the dorsal part suggest that the carcasses were carried
from a distance to locate and bury them at a preferred location (see
Figure 6).

This abnormal recumbency is due to a combination of three factors.
First, preexisting 'tight' trenches in tea gardens to easily bury
carcasses. Second, elephants have become bolder and use human spaces to
fulfil their behavioural and dietary needs. People's tolerance towards
elephants in north Bengal is more than in other parts of West Bengal and
other Indian states (Roy et al. 2022) -- presenting a healthy
coexistence scenario. Third, the absence of trenches and the presence of
carnivores inside the forests projects a problematic situation for the
elephants to choose. Historically elephants must have buried their
deceased offspring inside forests subject to trench availability, loose
soil, among other environmental factors, but we also suggest that these
megaherbivores adapt to the changing socio-ecological scenario and
landscapes.

Such sentient behaviour in a high human density region strengthens the
morale of coexistence between humans and nonhumans. Thus, their
conservation quotient increases through ethics, more than elephants'
ecological role, and boosts their socio-ecological rank in society. Such
exalted status of elephants is further complemented through religious
reverence among various communities worldwide, including India. Births
and deaths are memorialized among the local communities and hold a
special place in their rural culture, as was done in the case of Devpara
TG. Cases 2, 3, and 4 didn't display any such homage due to the isolated
location of the carcass and religious heterogeneity in the
neighbourhood.

Based on anecdotal evidence from TG managers and workers, the herd made
loud vocalizations and left quickly -- approximately 30-40 minutes. This
behaviour suggests that elephants distinguish human and nonhuman spaces
and avoids dissension with humans.

Vocalization remains an expected behaviour among Asian and African
elephants, which was limited to the burial phase. In these cases, loud
trumpets signified mourning and preparing for inter-specific aggression
(Sharma et al. 2019). A second-hand account (formal interview with the
forest range officer) showed a similar case inside Jaldapara national
park (an adjoining forest in the same landscape). The elephant herd
stayed there for more than four hours near the burial site, most
probably because it was undisturbed by humans. His other observation
adds that the same herd visited the burial site multiple times to
investigate various stages of decay. This observation aligns parallel to
the behaviour among African elephants (Douglas-hamilton et al., 2006;
Goldenberg \& Wittemyer, 2019).

Besides these behaviours, we also observed the efforts of various herd
members through their footprints in levelling the soil above the carcass
-- supporting the social-bonds hypothesis. Moreover, from the size of
the footsteps and dung boli, we also infer that carcass burying was a
combined effort from allomothers and herd members of different age
groups. Such indirect signs have been recorded in India (Sharma et al.
2019) and Africa (Goldenberg and Wittemyer 2019), even though those
observations were only limited to mourning and gathering. Also, the
herds operated in small numbers, parallel to previous studies on Asian
elephants (Pokharel and Sharma 2022) but contrary to African elephants
(Silva et al. 2017). Thus, due to the absence of a hierarchical
structure among Asian elephants, we report commensurated efforts in the
burial of the deceased conspecifics by the surviving herd members,
unlike African elephants, where the agency works in hierarchical order
(Sharma et al. 2019).

Postmortem behaviour:

Following the wildlife protocol, the forest department removed the
mounted carcasses and kept the records for research and training. Thus,
a further comparison concerning 'visiting the carcass' cannot be made
between Asian and African elephants. In natural setting, elephants have
been reported to visit the burial site at various stages of
decomposition both in Africa (Hawley et al. 2016; Goldenberg and
Wittemyer 2019; Rutherford and Murray 2020) and Asia (Pokharel and
Sharma 2022). This case study shows the opposite behaviour altogether.
In all the examples, the herd fled the site within forty minutes of
burial. A formal interview with the tea garden manager shows that the
elephants now use a parallel pathway and completely avoid their previous
'active' route. This observation was complemented by indirect evidence
of dung boli and footsteps that the elephant herds use the parallel
pathways more often than before. This behaviour comes up as a new
contrasting behaviour to their African cousins who spend a lot of time
investigating and exploring the elephant remains (Douglas-hamilton et
al., 2006). Concludingly, burial location plays a central role in
determining the postmortem behaviour among elephants, whether inside or
outside the PAs.

All observations were opportunistic and must not be generalized for the
entire study area or other regions of similar biogeographic and
environmental conditions. We report only the cases outside PAs and the
behaviour thereafter. The behaviour of the elephant herd inside PAs
could be similar to their African cousins, or not. In all cases, all
elephant herds avoid burial sites and take parallel routes. For the
surviving elephants, these sites are seen as 'bad milestones' or 'bad
omens'.

Any of the deceased calves didn't age more than twelve months and
similar to studies on captive elephants, wild Asian elephants also
remain susceptible to death in early years (Mar et al. 2012). All the
death cases happened due to prevailing illness or natural unfavourable
circumstances. Still, we restrained from putting forward the exact
reason that claimed the deaths of these calves. However, we claim it
concretely that irrespective of the cause of death, the elephant herd
attempts to bury the carcass in an abnormal recumbency position inside
TGs. Even though the nutritional status of all the calf carcasses was
poor and poor-to-normal, we also step back in categorizing the deaths
into natural or accidental, except in case 2, where the elephant calf
died of multiple organ failure due to acute microbial infection. Cases
1, 3, and 4 suggest deaths due to cardio-respiratory failure, which
could have arisen for numerous reasons, including falling into the
trench, being stampeded, or suffocating to death naturally. Thus, we
refrain from stating that all the deaths happened outside TGs. At the
same time, we also report that all the trenches where the carcasses were
mounted were too shallow (approximately 0.60 to 0.70 m) and least
probable for calves to slip and die. We also eliminate any possibility
of infanticide in any of the cases as reported in other cognitive
species, such as Chacma baboons (Carter et al. 2020) and Mountain
gorillas (\emph{Gorilla beringei beringei} ) (Watts 2019). This remains
an open platform for future research among academics researching
elephant behaviour and thanatology. Subsequently, we repress from
commenting on whether these death cases would trigger regional HEC.

Even though the two distinct cousins separated c. 9-4.2 Mya (Palkopoulou
et al. 2018), the ancestral traits still connect the two species. We
hope scholars studying thanatology come up with detailed anecdotes
across various species and perform nuanced comparative thanatological
studies to connect the phylogenetic continuity. We encourage science and
social science evidence-based thanatological studies for not just
sentient beings but also non-sentient beings and less-loved species in a
changing natural and socio-political environment.

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Table 1: Details of postmortem reports of the four deceased elephant
calves\selectlanguage{english}
\begin{longtable}[]{@{}lllll@{}}
\toprule
\begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
\emph{Case 1}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
\emph{Case 2}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
\emph{Case 3}\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
\emph{Case 4}\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\midrule
\endhead
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.19\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Forest division\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.19\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Jalpaiguri division\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.19\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Jalpaiguri division\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.19\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Buxa tiger reserve (West)\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.19\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Buxa tiger reserve (West)\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Date of death\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
12.09.2022\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
17.11.2022\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
19.08.2022\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
27.10.2022\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Time of death\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
2 am\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
2 pm\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
3 am\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
6 am\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Location\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Debpara tea garden\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Chunabhati tea garden\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Bharnabari tea garden\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Majherdabri tea garden\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Age of the calf\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
12 months\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
4-5 months\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
10 months\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
6-8 months\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Weight\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
350 kg\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
200 kg\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
300 kg\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
250 kg\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Sex\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Female\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Female\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Male\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Male\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Trachea\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
NAD\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Hemorrhagic froth present\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Hemorrhagic froth present\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Hemorrhagic froth present\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Lungs\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Heart\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Epicardium -- congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Epicardium -- congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Epicardium -- congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Epicardium -- congested and hemorrhagic\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Diaphragm\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
NAD\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Congested\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
NAD\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Ruptured\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Nutritional status\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Poor\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Poor\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Poor to normal\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Poor to normal\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Reason for death\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Cardio-respiratory failure due to acute catarrhal enteritis\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Multiple organ failure due to acute microbial infection\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Cardio-respiratory failure\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Respiratory failure\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Body carcass\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
intact\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
intact\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
intact\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
intact\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
Entry/exit wounds\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
no\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
no\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
no\strut
\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.17\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
no\strut
\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
\bottomrule
\end{longtable}

NAD: No Abnormality Detected

\emph{Figure legends}

Figure 1: Map of study area showing all case sites along with major
land-use types

Figure 2: The image corresponds to case 1 of Devpara TG

Figure 3: The image corresponds to case 2 of Chunabhati TG

Figure 4: The image corresponds to case 3 of Bharnabari TG

Figure 5: The image corresponds to case 4 of Majherdabri TG

Figure 6: A picture showing an elephant carcass being carried by herd
members

\emph{Data Accessibility Statement}

Data can be accessed through Paswan and Roy, 2023

\emph{Competing Interests Statement}

There is no competing interests between the authors

\emph{Acknowledgements}

We thank Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune and
the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests/Chief Wildlife Warden of West
Bengal for granting permission (Memo no: 3067/WL/4R-26/2022) to conduct
this study. We are grateful to the tea garden managements and the night
guards of Devpara, Chunabhati, Bharnobari, and Majherdabri for the
timely intimation and cooperation regarding the calf death incidents. We
are equally obliged to the divisional forest officers of Jalpaiguri
division and Gorumara wildlife division, forest range officers of
Binnaguri, Hamiltonganj, and Majherdabri ranges, and the support staff
who have contributed efficiently to the production of this behavioural
study. We thank the veterinary officers of Gorumara wildlife division
and Buxa tiger reserve for their detailed investigation concerning the
calf deaths. We also thank Suraj Kumar Dash of Wildlife Institute of
India for his support in preparing the map.\selectlanguage{english}
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\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-1/Figure-1}

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\begin{center}
\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-2/Figure-2}

\end{center}
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\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-3/Figure-3}

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\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-4/Figure-4}

\end{center}
\end{figure}\selectlanguage{english}
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\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-5/Figure-5}

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\end{figure}\selectlanguage{english}
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\includegraphics[width=0.70\columnwidth]{figures/Figure-6/Figure-6}

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