Richard Dawkins- discuss

[Fungus]

I thought you would mean that. As lovely a notion as "the elephant's graveyard" is, sadly it is balderdash with a little piffle thrown in for good measure.

 

Thompson,

So how do you explain the footage mentioned by Tony and the reports of ethological or animal behaviour researchers and filmers such as Hugo von Lawick on this phenomenon then ?

[Sam Thompson]

Then you NEED to look into this for YOURSELF, and I promise you that you will see "mourning" in elephants when coming across remains of their dead kin, often all that is left is a skull, to big and heavy even for the 400lbs per square inch bite of the hyeenas and wild dogs to break

 

I have looked into it for myself, lots Are you saying nothing gets rid of elephant skulls? Porcupines, rats, and I think all of the 11 species of mouse all eat ivory and bone (including skulls) for the mineral goodness it holds. Elephants are funny things. They bury the people they kill, often, and occasionally the living.

 

I am not saying they do not mourn, I am just yet to find any proof, or anyone who worth listening too, that supports the graveyard idea.

 

 

Thompson,

So how do you explain the footage mentioned by Tony and the reports of ethological or animal behaviour researchers and filmers such as Hugo von Lawick on this phenomenon then ?

 

I haven't seen Tony's footage, so I cannot offer an opinion.

 

Which researchers? Give me names and I will read it.

 

A few people have told me the following story, with minor differences, but enough to make me believe it.

 

 

George Adamson shot a bull out of herd (ecological). They moved the carcass about a mile after giving the meat away to the tribesmen they left the carcass overnight to find the next morning the herd had tracked them,taken a shoulder and a leg and then returned them to the very spot old tembo was dropped.

[Fungus]

I am not saying they do not mourn, I am just yet to find any proof ... Which researchers? Give me names and I will read it.

 

1. New Scientist article.

2. Elephant graveyard.

Edited August 14, 2011 by Fungus

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

 

I am not saying they do not mourn, I am just yet to find any proof, or anyone who worth listening too, that supports the graveyard idea.

 

 

 

I couldnt give a monkies uncle wether you believe it or not to be fair, I know what I've seen, and I am happy with what I've seen through the medium of film.

 

Nobody worth listening too, crikey, thats an arrogant statement, just how much time have you spent in the cradle of life then!

[Fungus]

2. Elephant graveyard

 

Thompson,

Forget the second link (it's a double of the first one) and the movie Elephants of Kilimanjaro by Hugo von Lawick probably is the film Tony meant.

[Saw-sick Steve]

1. New Scientist article.

2. Elephant graveyard.

I don't think anyone can deny that Elephants acknowledge and maybe even possibly recognise the dead remains of their kin, but to describe that behaviour as 'mourning' in the conventional sense of the word is probably a step too far.

Regarding the mythical 'Elephants graveyard', Ian Douglas-Hamilton (who spent the best part of his life studying elephants) in his definitive work 'Among the Elephants' gives the idea short shrift - as do 'New Scientist'.

I'm afraid that a link to a site entitled 'UFO Digest' does little to bolster your case.

[skyhuck]

I once heard on the radio about someone seeing a large bull elephant on a cliff over looking a bay, the elephant was making a low rumbling sound, out in the bay was a large whale.

 

Is this just fantasy???

[scotspine1]

I once heard on the radio about someone seeing a large bull elephant on a cliff over looking a bay, the elephant was making a low rumbling sound, out in the bay was a large whale.

 

Is this just fantasy???

 

no its true, the reason behind the story is that elephants are evolved from whales. One day a whale looked onto the vast plains of Africa and thought, 'I want to explore that area'. So he concentrated really hard and forced his body into the shape of an elephant and lo and behold he became an elephant.

[skyhuck]

no its true, the reason behind the story is that elephants are evolved from whales. One day a whale looked onto the vast plains of Africa and thought, 'I want to explore that area'. So he concentrated really hard and forced his body into the shape of an elephant and lo and behold he became an elephant.

 

Cool!!!!!!!!

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

no its true, the reason behind the story is that elephants are evolved from whales. One day a whale looked onto the vast plains of Africa and thought, 'I want to explore that area'. So he concentrated really hard and forced his body into the shape of an elephant and lo and behold he became an elephant.

 

more likely the other way round, whales and all the aquatic mammals evolved from land animals.