How Animals Grieve by Barbara J. King

Author:Barbara J. King [King Barbara J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 2013-06-17T16:00:00+00:00

10

NO BOUNDARIES

CROSS-SPECIES GRIEF

The bulky gray body, with its huge ears and dangling trunk, walked in a big open field beside a smaller, white romping one. Tarra and Bella were out for a walk. Side by side, day after day, they roamed the open acres of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. They even took swims together. The trust that Bella the dog felt for her friend was evident when she allowed Tarra to caress her stomach with one massive foot.

Tarra bonded with the stray dog Bella all on her own, without any urging from her human caretakers. For eight years, the two were fast friends. And thanks to television and the Internet, they became a global video sensation. That two creatures of such disparate size, indeed of such different natures, shared an enduring friendship was uplifting news for many people. Tarra and Bella remind us that when individuals will it so, bonds of friendship may transcend even extreme dissimilarities.

Then one day in 2011, Bella was attacked by a wild animal, or possibly more than one. The attackers were almost certainly coyotes, and they killed her. Though circumstantial, the evidence that could be gathered points to two conclusions: Tarra was the first to discover Bella’s body, and she carried her dead friend back near the barn where the two had spent happy times. No person at the sanctuary witnessed Tarra’s discovery or carrying of Bella’s body, so I cannot affirm the truth of these conclusions, but here are the known facts: Tarra and Bella were seen together on October 24, 2011. The next morning, and indeed through the day, Bella was nowhere to be found. Sanctuary workers began a search for her that yielded no results, and continued it the next day. Bella’s prolonged absence was so unusual that people at the sanctuary began to fear the worst.

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