While scientists caution against interpreting these behaviors as evidence of “grief,” elephants are among the few species known to exhibit mourning for their deceased.

According to Smithsonian magazine, elephants have been observed holding “funerals” and have shown a particular interest in the bones of their deceased. The animals have been seen to frequently walk past the deceased herd member during these memorials, occasionally even touching and smelling the body.

Photos of a female killer whale carrying her dead calf’s body on her back for over two weeks through Canadian waters before releasing it went viral last year. Similar behaviors have also been frequently seen in chimpanzees. In one instance, a small group of caged chimpanzees were observed cleaning particles of straw from a herdmate’s fur and examining her body for signs of life. For several days following her death, they would not visit the scene.

A group of Zambian primate researchers captured on camera a mother cleaning particles from her dead son’s teeth with a piece of dry grass in 2017. According to the participating experts, the inference is that chimpanzees retain social ties and have some sensitivity to dead bodies even after they pass away.

Magpies have been known to bury their deceased beneath grass twigs. One of the more intriguing recent instances was when an eight-year-old kid recorded peccaries, a type of wild animal that resembles a pig and is found in some areas of the United States, participating in rituals of mourning. The peccaries frequently visited the dead body, lying next to it and nuzzling and nipping at it.