After spotting a dead Burchell’s zebra foal in the Kruger National Park, we were privy to a series of touching and extraordinary events. Was what we witnessed a collective grieving ritual by a herd of zebras? Words and pictures by Abraham Mouton
It was December 2015 in the Kruger National Park and we’d had to endure extreme heat – the car temperature gauge exceeded 50˚C, the worst we as Capetonians had ever experienced. The severe drought was extensive and with most dams already empty, it appeared as if the Satara region was hit the hardest. Near the iconic rock fig tree on the first stretch of the S39 gravel road from the H7, a most touching event unfolded.
It was about 10:00 when we reached the S39 turn-off. We slowly made our way through the open savanna studded with a variety of trees. A few kilometres up the road we spotted a half-eaten black and white striped carcass lying in the tall dry grass. We recognised it as that of a zebra foal. There were no other animals in sight, nor any predators, which was very strange. We parked the car and decided to wait and see if a predator such as spotted hyena, cheetah, leopard, lion or wild dog might be responsible and return to continue eating.
The half-eaten carcass was neatly eaten, but only on the one end. We reasoned that perhaps a large piece had been removed and taken away by the predator to feast.
After thoroughly scanning the surroundings with five pairs of eyes, we’d come up empty. Then, suddenly, a zebra made its appearance from behind some trees close by. It stood there for a while, looked around and lifted its head to be able to see the carcass. The zebra moved closer, stopped again, looked around to ensure it was safe and then slowly walked towards the carcass. We guessed it might be the mother of the dead foal as it first circled around, seemingly inspecting the scene.
The zebra then moved closer, nudged the carcass with her nose a few times, licked it, nudged it again and looked around. It seemed the adult wanted the dead foal to show some movement and stand up. All of a sudden, something amazing happened.
The zebra turned around and made a loud, high-pitched “kwa-ha-ha” call, repeating it twice. A second or two later, we heard the answering call of another zebra in the distance. Soon after this, a number of zebras came trotting towards her. Some moved closer, looking at the dead foal, while others remained at a distance. Another zebra took up position right next to the first one, peering down at the dead foal.
The zebra we assumed to be the mother continued to nudge and lick the carcass. By this time, more than 20 zebras had moved in, surrounding her and the dead foal. We were all in awe of the emotional behaviour being displayed. The whole herd of zebras then did something even more astounding: for a few minutes, they all stood motionless.
Had we just witnessed a collective grieving ritual? Did the other zebras attend to pay their respects and give emotional support to the mother? We had goosebumps.
Following the ‘proceeding’, one of the zebras, presumably the stallion, took the lead and slowly walked off, with its head lowered, as if it continued to show respect. Some of the others followed in the same manner, whilst others remained behind and slowly approached the dead foal, looked at it and then turned and followed the others, also with their heads lowered.
During this time, one of the zebras remained with the mother, even touching her side with its body, as if reassuring her. Occasionally, the mother nudged and licked the lifeless body. Eventually, the two moved off, walking across the road in front of us. But the mother returned, eight times, as if pleading with us for assistance to revive the motionless foal. It was heart-wrenching to see. We were struggling to get rid of the lump in our throats.
As the zebras disappeared into the bush, we returned to Satara, deeply touched by this moment. We could not help thinking about the mother. We decided to return to the scene later that afternoon, but as expected, vultures had already located the carcass and cleaned the scene.
Although a lot has been written about how elephants, primates and dolphins react at the death of a group member, very little has been documented about the Burchell’s zebra. In hindsight, we have come to realise just how privileged we were to witness such a state of grief, both individually and collectively as a herd.
Have you ever witnessed something similar? Share your experience with us and your sighting could be featured in Wild’s bi-monthly newsletter.
In 2012, in the Khalahari Transfrontier Park we encountered a small family of giraffes with one very young giraffe standing by the remains of an adult giraffe. The body language of the young giraffe made us think that the dead one might have been its mother. This young giraffe stayed by this dead body for a long time and had this kind-of sad demeanour all along. It made us wonder about grief in the animal kingdom – maybe we were interpreting this behaviour by human standards.
I read this with great interest and thanks for the photos too. I do believe that they were sharing the grief and maybe that foal had got lost and was taken by a predator. This is what makes nature so fascinating to witness.
Dear Abraham, considering the total lack of predators it is highly likely that the youngster was killed by one of the males in the same herd. Although the mother goes to inordinate lengths to protect her new born on occasions she is not successful. She tries to keep herself between her baby and the rest of the herd. It’s also likely that you did witness a type of grief, mixed with curiosity.
I am convinced that animals are capable of emotions. They show joy, angst, fear and sadness. Why is it so difficult to understand by humans. We are all animals just speaking different languages, but we all experience life.
There is ample evidence that apart from humans, other sentient animals can experience grief of some kind, even if we do not (yet) fully understand the effect or ramifications of it. There is no logical reason why it should not include zebras.
The animal world is no different to ours, they too have emotions of joy and sorrow, you just have to watch a dog and see his emotional state. I have observed dogs in bad conditions in poverty areas, they are wretched looking and tails are down, heads are down, you can sense their suffering. The same for a well-fed happy dog in a good home, eyes are shining, tails are up, they are happy and at peace. The same for the wild. Thank you for these photos of the zebras grieving in their time of loss.
Thank you
On the afternoon of 6 March 2018 on our way ftom Letaba to Satara, we came upon a scene where about 50 vultures were feasting on something, presumably a dead Zebra. A few meters away on each sude of the scene were four or five zebras,. A few came from no where after being called by those already on the scene. Every 30 seconds or so, one specific Zebra would rush into the feasting vultures who gave little way. Unfotunately the grass was high and we could not see what the vultures were feasting on, but we were pretty sure that the Zebras were protecting the remains of one of the herd. Nature is fascinating , and unfortunately only we as Nature lovers experience the works of the Upperhand in the animal world. So sorry we did not have had the right equipment at hand to capture what was happening in front of our eyes. The first such an experience after our 20th visit to Kruger added up to almost 3 years in total. May Kruger be ther for ever.