Multiple species show behaviours that parallel human grief when conspecifics die, raising important questions about the emotional lives of animals and their capacity for loss.
Grief in animals is not merely metaphorical sentiment projected by human observers — it is a documented behavioural and physiological phenomenon with clear parallels to human mourning. Animals that show grief are experiencing real psychological suffering associated with social loss. This has direct welfare implications: it means that practices that cause frequent or repeated bereavement — maternal separation, slaughter, group disruption — inflict a form of psychological harm that goes beyond immediate physical suffering.