Asian elephants bury their dead, study suggests [Video]

Researchers in India have for the first time documented how Asian elephants bury dead calves.

Five calves were found buried on their backs in drainage ditches in tea gardens in northern Bengal, according to a new study.

While African elephants are known to bury dead calves, this is the first time that the behaviour has been documented in Asian elephants, study author Akashdeep Roy, a researcher at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), told CNN on Wednesday.

The burials were documented in areas home to fragmented forests and agricultural lands such as tea gardens, said Roy.

Herds of elephants use trails that snake through tea gardens on their journeys through the countryside, he added.

In the past, elephants would have stayed mostly in the forests, but in recent decades they have become more comfortable in areas with a human presence, said Roy.

While elephants would not bury …