By eating and defecating vegetation in fields, the soil couldbe improved for the next crop. Elephant plop could even be used for such highpriced crops as mushrooms. The relationship can be comparedbetween species toward communication about family relatinships. The corpse and places of death are of importance to humans and elephants. Elephants sniff the corpse, burry the dead, touch and handle bones extensively,scatter bones and shatter tusks.
Elephants seem to display grief at the death ofa family member.
Attempts to assist a dying elephant may persist long afterdeath. Elephant and human burrial rites can be compared towardcommunication about death and dying. ODOR Frequent sniffing of the route by traveling humans or elephants points to acommon olfactory element in the cognitive maps of humans and elephants andto olfactory marking. Elephant odor is concentrated at water holes, places ofhigh food density, and along routes. Elephants and humans detect predatorsby smell and both detect prey plants or animals by smell.