An elephant can die from a broken heart.

It turns out that elephants are highly emotional animals. They form close-knit relationships with one another and mourn the loss of loved ones. At times, if a fellow elephant dies, the others in the herd will gather around and pay their respects as if at a funeral.

If a baby elephant loses its mother, it will grieve. The elephant will often become withdrawn and emaciated. Other members of the herd will gather around and nurse the orphan back to life. Elephants can form deep attachments with humans too.

In one case, an elephant handler raised a baby elephant. She had to go away for a brief time to attend her daughter’s wedding. When she returned, she found that the baby elephant had died of a broken heart at her absence.