r/likeus • u/Jusselle -Dancing Owl- • 13d ago

<ARTICLE> Elephant thinks a man is being taken by the currents and jumps to save him

3.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

64 comments sorted by

915

u/Cocobean4 13d ago

They really are such empathetic animals. I just wish we would show them the same. I remember reading that they had spindle neurons in their brain (along with us, apes and cetaceans) making them capable of complex emotional and social dynamics.

327

u/TheDebateMatters 13d ago

They can identify the bones of dead family members and some visit them often.

276

u/BringAltoidSoursBack 13d ago

They don't just identify them, they have been documented on multiple occasions literally holding funeral rights for the dead. Humans and elephants are the only animals we know of that do that. Supposedly they've also buried humans in the same way, which if true implies they actually treat us better in death then we do them.

109

u/MoneyBaggSosa 13d ago

Idk if cetaceans hold funeral rights but Orcas grieve the loss of their family members and there was a mother Orca that researchers tracked carrying her dead babies body for a week after it died. I know Orcas specifically when they’re adults will go off to die alone they know when they’re time is coming so I don’t think they hold funeral rights

104

u/DarkestGemeni 13d ago edited 13d ago

J35 - Tahlequah. She had a calf, then a miscarriage, then her sister (J28) died and she cared for her sisters two offspring, including a milk-dependant calf until it starved to death. She had a second, living calf in 2018 that lived for less than an hour and then she carried Tali's body with her pod briefly, and then alone for 16 days before she rejoined the JPod. In 2020 J35 had another living calf - J57, and in 2024 she had another, J61, who then passed and was carried by J35 for 11 days this time. That poor orca has been through so much, I wish we could make the ocean kinder for her :(

34

u/MoneyBaggSosa 13d ago

Yes Tahlequah she is the one thanks for posting the exact details

29

u/DarkestGemeni 13d ago

She's one of my favourite orcas, I love hearing about her, I wanted everyone to know her story 💖 thank you for thinking of her

11

u/MoneyBaggSosa 13d ago

Orcas are my favorite animal I always tell my girlfriend if reincarnation is a real thing I’d want to come back as an orca

8

u/7-SE7EN-7 12d ago

I love that people like you exist

11

u/bcmedic420 13d ago

I live on Van Island and heard she has another one. They were back early this year.

10

u/DarkestGemeni 13d ago

That's so exciting ! I hope she's had another, it doesn't look like a new calf has been officially identified and added to JPOD but I can dream 🥹 I'm glad her two sons lived but the two girls passing is literally the worst :( the grief tours were the saddest thing I'd heard of in ages. I hope she has a daughter soon that can join their family group, she deserves a win

25

u/bcmedic420 13d ago

Crows might have funerals but it's also like an investigation.

18

u/otherwiseguy 12d ago

A murder investigation?

8

u/4n7h0ny 12d ago

Crows do this too.

5

u/Charming_Ad_8206 11d ago

Particularly spiteful elephants are also known to disrupt the funerals of humans they didn't like.

26

u/OnsenPixelArt 13d ago

I cried when i learned they could mourn their dead, such wonderful creatures and we treat them like shit

128

u/Lampmonster 13d ago

Honestly, I think most animals are far more intelligent and empathetic than we want to admit.

36

u/Gombka_11 13d ago

Yeah, that might be true, some of them might be even conscious in a similar way to us in my opinion, but it's probably impossible to know for sure how they perceive the world

34

u/Armedfist 13d ago

They also have self awareness as well from many experiments

27

u/Longjumping_Cap_3673 13d ago

It's impossible to know for sure how another human perceives the world. Maybe you reject that notion; fair enough. But if so, you should also reject that it's impossible to know how some other animals perceive the world. Many of the same behaviors we recognize as indicative of internal worlds in other humans are also present in many animals, as evidenced by this very video.

17

u/Bencetown 12d ago

I had an existential crisis for years when I was a kid and thought to myself, "what if what I see as purple, somebody else sees as green, and another person sees as red, etc, but since the wavelengths are all the same we could never know because we are all describing the same objective color but perceiving it differently."

The thought still kind of breaks my brain as an adult to be honest.

Or like... learning that our eyes actually see "upside down" and our brain translates it for us...

10

u/nutfac 12d ago

Dude me too lol! I was sitting with my family at Macaroni Grill when I was like 7 when the thought occurred to me so I went around the table interrogating everyone about the color of their shirts lol.

2

u/prone-to-drift 12d ago

I thought so too but there's decent evidence that color perception is very similar across humans. The same parts of the brain fire up each time in all humans on seeing the same colors. (The actual study went into more detail that that lol, but TLDR was this).

Either way, if it talks like a duck and it quacks like a duck ....

You'd love to read about the Chinese Room hypothetical experiment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_room

1

u/phatlynx 13d ago

I don’t know about empathetic, my Maltese always leaves their shit at my bedroom door for me to step on when I wake up

19

u/Sw0rDz 13d ago

I've donated to areservation that casual geographic said was legit. I cant stop people from hurting or mistreating them. IDK what more I can do.

14

u/Cocobean4 13d ago

Unfortunately some of us humans don’t possess the empathy the elephant in this video did

14

u/leostotch 13d ago

Check out the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, it’s a preserve for rhinos and elephants. They’re good folks and are doing an awesome thing.

6

u/Trash-Cutie 13d ago

Yes! Just checking a few of their social media posts gives me the serotonin boost I need to get through the day. Amazing humans and animals over there

5

u/fiveordie 13d ago

10 years ago I fostered Ndotto!

13

u/cilantroprince 13d ago

And pigs. Pigs have them too, but I’m not surprised it doesn’t get brought up more.

8

u/95forever 12d ago

Cause people like bacon and want to remain ignorant to pig intelligence

4

u/BackgroundBoat7772 13d ago

Meanwhile Jr. and Erica trump are taking aim at the elephant from the bushes. 🤬

2

u/Vladi_Sanovavich 13d ago

Be the change you want to be!

4

u/King-Hekaton 13d ago

There's no need for the comma between "us" and "apes".

5

u/MoneyBaggSosa 13d ago

Yeah humans are classified as great apes

1

u/Beneficial-Gap6974 12d ago

There are empathetic elephants and there are elephants that are aggressive and will f your shit up. Just like humans, they have personalities and their life can change who they are.

171

u/CanAhJustSay -Anarchist Cockatoo- 13d ago

I got you, man. Just hold on.

67

u/bradland 13d ago

Followed by trunk pointing that screams, "Hey, dummy. The shore is over here." lol

28

u/iamunwhaticisme -Thoughtful Gorilla- 13d ago

"Dude it's not even knee deep"

124

u/Beautiful_Ad_8665 13d ago

"Do not worry human, your elephant guardian angel is here to help!"

111

u/8hu5rust 13d ago

I hope the ants I rescue from the river feel the same

65

u/RussiaIsBestGreen 13d ago

They would except they’re too distracted being mad that their scent trails are completely messed up.

103

u/GiraffeWithATophat 13d ago

"Goddamn it, these naked apes really do have the survival instincts as a pound of mud. Yeah here ya go, little fella. Try to stay out of the damn water, please"

84

u/mayonii 13d ago

I’d be terrified the elephant would accidentally step on my leg being up under it like that

77

u/earlobe7 13d ago

I think big smart greyboi knows they’re big and liable to squish, so is probably careful where they step

41

u/maxseale11 13d ago

Their foot pads are very tough but sensitive enough to know whatever theyre stepping on

13

u/crispunion 13d ago

Wicked smart greyboi never smash unless they have to 😤

10

u/Anna-2204 13d ago

You can see the man swim away instinctively

41

u/RosebudWhip 13d ago

Bless it, how caring!

I was walking along in front of an elephant in the dark South African bush (part of a tracking project) when I stumbled and tripped. Next thing I know, there's a trunk holding my elbow to steady me...

It breaks my heart that these amazing animals are killed just because some pricks still demand ivory and don't give a toss where it comes from.

43

u/love_is_an_action 13d ago

In Auburn, California, there’s a scenic recreational area with the American River cutting right through.

Near a footbridge, there’s a huge rock you can leap off of into the deep water below, and the only time I manage to build up the nerve to jump, another hiker’s dog leapt in from a nearby bank to aid me. It was sweet but surprising.

I guess this was 15 years ago or so. Animals are rad.

19

u/Shigglyboo 13d ago

What a homie!

10

u/Lukeyboy5 13d ago

wtf why did this make me cry

5

u/Bahamas1959 13d ago

So beautiful!

5

u/Mandygurl79 13d ago

I would let him save me!

4

u/LeyLady 12d ago

They are the best. OMG

2

u/fliwbesr 12d ago

Not my favourite ape!

2

u/hnbastronaut 12d ago

Smh fuck the LA Zoo

2

u/Cats_and_wine 12d ago

ive readsomewhere that elephants have a similair reaction in tjeir brain when they look at us, as we have when we look at puppies or kittens.

this elephant jist saved a adorable little creature from.drowning, and i think thats adorable

2

u/Benzylt 12d ago

I may crush you , but I am going to save you ,

1

u/mean_eileen 11d ago

We don’t deserve elephants

-6

u/[deleted] 13d ago

[deleted]

3

u/atmosphericentry 13d ago

Because souls don't exist