Grieving elephant carries lifeless body of calf in funeral ceremony

A mother’s heartbreaking farewell: Grieving elephant carries the lifeless body of her calf in her trunk before laying it to rest watched by their herd in ‘funeral ceremony’

• Grief-stricken mother elephant carried her calf to an acacia tree in Namibia
• Other members of the herd walked solemnly to the elephant’s resting place
• The intelligent animals are known to observe funeral rituals 

A grieving mother elephant has carried the lifeless body of her dead calf in her trunk in a heartbreaking funeral ceremony in Namibia.

Sombre footage shows the grief-stricken elephant taking her calf towards an acacia tree in the Torra reserve in Damaraland.

Other members of the herd converge and walk together in silence as part of a respectful procession for the late elephant.

A grieving mother elephant has carried the lifeless body of her dead calf with her trunk in a heartbreaking funeral ceremony in Namibia

Sombre footage shows the grief-stricken elephant taking her calf towards an acacia tree in the Torra reserve in Damaraland

The calf was less than a week old when it died after water dried up in the area.

While other younger elephants continue to play in the reserve, many of the older members all turn and walk towards the tree where the calf is laid to rest.

Safari guides told Corriere della Sera they had never seen elephants performing a funeral ceremony before. 

The two rivers serving the Torra reserve have both run dry in recent weeks with the wells also out of order.

Other members of the herd converge and walk together in silence as part of a respectful procession for the late elephant

The calf was less than a week old when it died after water dried up in the area

After the ceremony, the elephants continued as a group in hope of finding water. 

Elephants have been known to observe funeral rituals, often laying branches over a corpse shortly after death.

They also have been seen raising their feet above a dead body in a symbol of remembrance, or scattering their remains.

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