Elephant carcasses briefly become busy ecosystems of their own.
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This African elephant is on the verge of death. It was likely tusked in its side by another male elephant during a fight. What happens next reveals how enormously important an elephant is to its ecosystem. Elephants arrive on the scene to mourn the loss of their fellow elephant. The mourning process includes “body-mounting,” in which they climb on the carcass. They also mourn by walking backwards towards the body, often touching it with their hind foot. They will explore the body with their trunks and front feet. Whether elephants culturally transmit and learn these actions is part of an ongoing study. Hyenas arrived overnight and opened the belly of the carcass, tearing through the tough elephant hide. This gives the opportunity for white-backed vultures to feed.
Vultures don’t have strong enough beaks to tear through the elephant’s hide, so they have to wait in line behind the hyenas. While sad, these deaths are crucial for ecosystems. These feasts can be life saving for vultures, whose populations have plummeted worldwide as humans have changed their habitats and poisoned them. A leopard comes to investigate but decides to eat elsewhere. Elephant carcasses briefly become busy ecosystems of their own. Apart from scavenging, there’s a full community of decomposers like maggots that chow down on anything the bigger scavengers don’t get to quickly enough. A carcass site becomes soaked with blood and fluids that are released during decomposition, creating a fertile patch of ground as microbes release nutrients into the soil.
Scientists use carcass counts for keeping tabs on elephant population health. So not only does this elephant’s carcass provide a highly beneficial service to the surrounding ecosystem … it may ultimately help with science and elephant conservation.
Read more in “Watch What Happens When Scavengers Find a Several-Ton Carcass”
https://on.natgeo.com/2O3Nlda
Learn more about African Elephant:
https://on.natgeo.com/2OnisFd
Here’s What Happens After an Elephant Dies | Nat Geo Wild
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The death of an elephant reveals how important the creatures are for their ecosystem. To learn more, you can read on here: https://on.natgeo.com/2O3Nlda
4:46 I can’t believe the hyenas don’t really mind the vulture too much, but prefer a hit and decaying elephant. It seems like they’d want to lunge and kill the vultures right next to them for sport and for fresh food. This is so crazy to me! Nature is amazing!
1:02 omg! The elephant putting its legs on the deceased one looks like he’s trying to do CPR!
Who's here after LEO trailer 🤣🤣
Food for everyone.
You make videos and earn money but at least you can't save one of them
Poor dude
Noone watching this video or in the comments is above this process either. We are all part of nature
The cycle of life
I wonder the smell of that place 😅
😢😢😢 feeling bad for elephant
When I reincarnate, I want to be a vulture. Loads of benefits like no visa required for flying anywhere, super high immune system, don't need any cov1d shots, loads of food everywhere, can withstand stench easily, no predator hunting me.
Leo
Looks like the bull male that got him walk over the bones😳
Didn't know elephants also mourn males, as they are pretty solitary oned
in the end you took the tusk and sold it for your personal use ….shame on u
الله أكبر
Jai shree Krishna Ram Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna Krishna 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Hyaenas are cool.
Im African. For us 🐘 is King.
They're really strong, intelligent and majestic.
Asle,galja
Circle of nature wildlife.
Instead of elephent's treatment , you are capturing your sick mentality on camera…bravo
😢😢😢😢😢
The fact that one elephant dying fed and kept multiple other animals and lifeforms alive is cool. It sucks that the elephant died but it's death garunteed the survival of many other animals
Do Hyenas actually eats vulture?
Every soul shall test of death
How they finished a giant elephant
It is sad that even after death a human doesn't return anything to the nature.
This is food chain system of our environment ⛰️
Oh may heart
I hate when they say viewers be warned. Warned for what?? Americans got to stop being so squeamish this is a part of life deal with it
the painful death of the creatures
We are inside a law that is difficult to find solutions in order to live
One month meal free
You can safe her life😢❤😞
why did this happen
Its Looks Like This Young Male Subadult African Savannah Elephant Got Into A Fight With Another Adult Male African Savannah Elephant!!!
Respect food chain
Yaani hii fisi ata haiwezi ita mabeshte zake washerehekee pamoja 😂
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That was not a vulture that it grabbed! That was like some kind of hawk that stopped to get a drink & cool off! You need to change the heading,! It was a hawk! Otherwise Good video!😂