Elephant Devoured In 'Seconds': High-Speed Time Lapse Shows 7 Days Of Animals Feeding (VIDEO)

It took seven days for animals to tear this elephant to pieces, but in the video below it takes just seconds.

The experiment, which is a part of footage captured for a UK Channel 4 documentary called "The Elephant: Life After Death," was put down by a veterinarian after it was mortally wounded by ivory poachers, according to New Scientist. Researchers were trying to determine what and how different animals feed on the carcass.

As can be seen in the video, the elephant is eventually reduced to nothing by a variety of animals, including hyenas, leopards and vultures.

WARNING: The video below contains some slightly disturbing images of animals eating the elephant. If you think you can't handle watching an elephant get torn to shreds, we don't recommend watching.

WATCH:

Comments

[inARCTICulate]

08:38 PM on 02/22/2011

Looks like Thanksgiving with MY relatives.

[hauruck]

08:38 PM on 02/21/2011

Interesting that almost all the scavenging occurred mostly at night.

[bwither]

01:27 AM on 02/20/2011

Weird. Hyenas got the bulk of the meat, and it looked as though the less meat remained on the carcass, the more hyenas showed up to share it.

[Caligal1]

11:49 PM on 02/19/2011

All for ivory. This poor elephant's death didn't have to happen.

And what is so popular that is made out of ivory? Answer: Ivory elephant figurines. Beyond hypocritical.

[Rich Phitzwell]

11:57 AM on 02/20/2011

Ivory appears to be intact.

[Rich Phitzwell]

12:02 PM on 02/20/2011

Nevermind, I just caught the poacher part. Ya its a sick world we live in

[greendrake]

12:02 AM on 02/19/2011

Watch it again, and appreciate the narrator's forbearance in the face of what has to be the most godawful stench imaginable during the introduction.

[inARCTICulate]

08:39 PM on 02/22/2011

He was in his van surrounded by lavender and vanilla.

[greendrake]

11:57 PM on 02/18/2011

Outstanding.

[Califishing]

08:48 PM on 02/18/2011

How did the animals eat it and not get sick? The meat was left out and not refrigerated. Try that with a chicken..

[quillsinister]

12:47 AM on 02/19/2011

Humans have grown soft in domesticity. :-)

[vegalili]

08:01 PM on 02/18/2011

What's with the music? It's like they're doing something evil...

[socialtalker]

06:50 PM on 02/18/2011

i still see the tusk, the poachers must have been chased off. wonder what happens to the tusk,i guess the govt gets them.

[copelli21]

05:20 PM on 02/18/2011

Circle of life.....it is what it is.

[CalculatedRiskTaker]

04:50 PM on 02/18/2011

Does anyone want to go to lunch ?

[Rich Phitzwell]

12:02 PM on 02/20/2011

1 1/2 lb. meat (4 to 6), cut into cubes
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/4 cup dry white vermouth
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
hot cooked pasta

[Squeezer55]

04:31 PM on 02/18/2011

I saw this in the Arctic several years ago while diamond prospecting. A caribou limped over the horizon and came within view of our camp. It was obviously injured. Shortly after that, the object of its injuries came over the horizon- two wolves. They caught up with their prey and brought it down while we watched. After they had their fill , they left and we watched over the next several days while Arctic foxes, wolverines, birds and even a grizzly bear munched on the caribou( grizzlies have migrated inside the Arctic circle). It was an interesting to see how this one animal kept many other animals alive in a very cold desolate place.

[Super Sarcastic]

03:59 PM on 02/18/2011

Give the animals a large bank account and you could present the video as "Conservatives Feeding off the Carcass of the American Labor Movement"

[cashaww]

05:29 PM on 03/08/2011

Labour is not dead yet, no matter how "Conservatives" try to deliver the death blow. BUT, I get your point.

[The Rokk]

02:44 PM on 02/18/2011

It truely is amazing how efficiently nature cleans up after itself. Next it is our turn to learn how to clean up after ourselves.

[cashaww]

05:30 PM on 03/08/2011

The way things are going, either we clean up, or nature will clean us up.

[Styxtap]

02:00 PM on 02/18/2011

"You cant explain that" -Bill O'reilly

[quillsinister]

12:48 AM on 02/19/2011

Ha! Fanned. :-D