Once dead, a funeral march is seen, where the elephants circle the dead, turn facing outward, then circle the dead again, repeating the cycle over and over. Elephants also show interest in the bones of their dead. They cannot pass the elephant bones without examining and feeling the remains. It is thought that elephants practice this in order to recall past herd members or relatives. An orphaned baby elephant caresses the jawbone of its deceased mother, almost as if it remembers the contours of her face in life.
Fear is another emotion that the authors spend time examining.
Error in anthropomorphism can be seen when a human acting out fear from an animal only sees anger and hostility from the animal, when in fact fear is expressed by both humans and animals, in regards to the fight or flight response mechanisms. Fear is the most commonly excepted emotion that is discussed when describing animal emotion. One reason posed, is that fear is actually an evolutionary advantage to the animals for defense purposes. One can also say that humans can relate to animals showing fear, because fear is most often expressed in humans when it comes to encounters with animals. The conclusion of this book allows the authors to express their views on the ideas of pain.