An Elephant Carries a Dead Calf That Is Not Her Own
The photographer thought he had found a grieving mother, until researchers told him the female had miscarried a couple of years earlier.
Global News Podcast · Zelensky feels 'betrayed' by TrumpThe morning started with drag marks in the sand. Photographer Federico Veronese had seen the same elephant family the night before in Namibia's Huab River Valley, a dry riverbed. The next morning, he followed the tracks to find out what had made them.
There stood a female elephant, holding a dead calf gripped between her trunk and tusk. Veronese grabbed his camera quickly. In black and white, the picture is spare and close, a large animal carrying a small, limp body.
The image won the top Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize. What looked at first like a portrait of a grieving mother turned out to be a behavior not often seen that seems to show deep feeling.
The scene lasted. She had "kept the baby with her for the whole morning," photographer Federico Veronese said, giving him time to take a few images. He quickly realized how intimate and personal it was to watch.
"I felt almost like, you know, violating the privacy and the intimacy of this moment," he said. He kept shooting because he "realized how important it was for this story to be told."
Only later, after speaking with researchers who know the animals, did he learn he had misunderstood what he saw. The carrier was not the mother. She was a female who had miscarried a couple of years before.
Ever since that loss, researchers told him, she has actively looked to pick up and carry the dead calves of other females when there are any.
Veronese said many people still do not consider animals to be sentient creatures, and treat them as disposable. For him, this elephant, carrying a baby that was not her own, shows "how deeply connected we can be and how similar our emotions can be with theirs."
Questions people ask
Do elephants really grieve their dead?
Researchers have documented elephants touching, guarding, and returning to dead companions, and mothers sometimes carrying dead calves for days. They also show excitement when encountering elephant bones. Scientists avoid using the word grief exactly as humans mean it, but describe strong social attachment and distress at loss.
Where is the Huab River Valley?
It is a dry riverbed in northwestern Namibia that runs toward the Atlantic Ocean and flows with water only after rare rains. It is known for desert-dwelling elephants that travel long distances between water and food. Small groups are tracked there by researchers and guides.
What is Wildlife Photographer of the Year?
It is an annual international nature photography competition developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London. Tens of thousands of entries are judged for artistry, originality, and natural history value. Winning images are shown in an exhibition that tours internationally.