# Dealing with large dead animals **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 27, 2009, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729 "2009-02-27T23:57:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/21 "2009-03-04T14:59:26Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Well, actually I think it’s quite practical. But another part of the question is, once it’s decided to bury say, a whale or an elephant, are hooks or something sunk into the corpse to drag it into the hole, or lift it by winching it up? Or is the corpse cut up and shoved piece by piece into the grave dug for it? It depends on the size of the animal. For smaller whales, such as the Beaked Whales, Pygmy Sperm Whales, or most of the dolphins, you can cut it up and put it in the hole piece by piece. Lots of animals less than 800-1000 lbs we’ll transport to necropsy and cut it up for the move to the rendering plant. For whales larger than 1000 lbs, the necropsy is done wherever it is found, and then a hole can be dug and the animal cut up for easy disposal. For the extremely large whales (in my area, that’s Sperm Whales, Grey Whales, Blue Whales, and Humpbacks) the necropsy is almost always done in place (there was one crazy incident in Taiwan recently where a large whale was transported to a lab for necropsy, and due to decompostion gases, it didn’t turn out well.) We’re talking about a necropsy where the _incisions_ are made with chainsaws and our wonderfully tolerant veterinarian or research assistants stand literally hip-deep in whale flesh to get samples of the heart and liver tissue. When they’re done, the hole is dug (if it’s in a location where a hole can be dug,) and you need to wrap cables around the whale to pull it into the hole. Blue Whales can weigh up to 110 tons, so for this kind of operation you’ve got a couple backhoes and a bulldozer lying around. You can’t efficiently cut up this size of whale (that would be as large a problem as digging the grave and burying it,) but often the flukes and fins of the whale get in the way when you’re rolling it into the hole, so often those do get cut off. > [@](#): > > With that whale I’m assuming the institute would want the skeleton at least relatively intact, so cutting might not be an option. It doesn’t really matter all that much. The intellectual demands of rearticulating a whale skeleton are not that great. We have a Bone Clone[sup]TM[/sup] Pygmy Sperm Whale skeleton that we use for education, and I’ve taught classes as young as 4th grade to put the skeleton back together in 30 minutes or less. It’s a great anatomy lesson. Anyway, even if you bury the whale intact, digging it up 9-10 years later it will not necessarily still have an articulated skeleton. Beach sand shifts around a lot on that time scale. > [@Markxxx](#): > > What about usable parts. I mean they make ivory out of elephant tusks and hippo teeth. I assume they can sell those things right? Many of those items (elephant ivory, whale parts) are illegal to buy and sell under the provisions of the [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species](http://www.cites.org/). We don’t want to help contribute to a market in elephant ivory or Sperm Whale scrimshaw. Every sample retained for scientific or educational use needs to be permitted through the National Marine Fisheries Service (for marine mammals in the United States.) It’s not that big a paperwork hassle - the guys from NMFS know us and what we do with the parts. It would be a much bigger deal if someone unfamiliar to them asked for a permit. These parts cannot be sold. I’m sure a similar system applies to elephant tusks, although I’m unfamiliar with the details. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/22 "2009-03-04T15:11:52Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > The animal was put in a pick up truck by crates, taken all the way from Atlanta to Athens, and then a team of people worked on the necropsy, using tents to hide the body. You mean a flatbed truck? I can’t imagine how you could possibly fit a mature elephant into a pickup truck bed. I can’t even fit my couch in one. > [@wevets](#): > > It depends on the size of the animal. For smaller whales, such as the Beaked Whales, Pygmy Sperm Whales, or most of the dolphins, you can cut it up and put it in the hole piece by piece. Lots of animals less than 800-1000 lbs we’ll transport to necropsy and cut it up for the move to the rendering plant. For whales larger than 1000 lbs, the necropsy is done wherever it is found, and then a hole can be dug and the animal cut up for easy disposal. > > For the extremely large whales (in my area, that’s Sperm Whales, Grey Whales, Blue Whales, and Humpbacks) the necropsy is almost always done in place (there was one crazy incident in Taiwan recently where a large whale was transported to a lab for necropsy, and due to decompostion gases, it didn’t turn out well.) We’re talking about a necropsy where the _incisions_ are made with chainsaws and our wonderfully tolerant veterinarian or research assistants stand literally hip-deep in whale flesh to get samples of the heart and liver tissue. When they’re done, the hole is dug (if it’s in a location where a hole can be dug,) and you need to wrap cables around the whale to pull it into the hole. Blue Whales can weigh up to 110 tons, so for this kind of operation you’ve got a couple backhoes and a bulldozer lying around. You can’t efficiently cut up this size of whale (that would be as large a problem as digging the grave and burying it,) but often the flukes and fins of the whale get in the way when you’re rolling it into the hole, so often those do get cut off. > > It doesn’t really matter all that much. The intellectual demands of rearticulating a whale skeleton are not that great. We have a Bone Clone[sup]TM[/sup] Pygmy Sperm Whale skeleton that we use for education, and I’ve taught classes as young as 4th grade to put the skeleton back together in 30 minutes or less. It’s a great anatomy lesson. > > Anyway, even if you bury the whale intact, digging it up 9-10 years later it will not necessarily still have an articulated skeleton. Beach sand shifts around a lot on that time scale. > > Many of those items (elephant ivory, whale parts) are illegal to buy and sell under the provisions of the [Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species](http://www.cites.org/). We don’t want to help contribute to a market in elephant ivory or Sperm Whale scrimshaw. Every sample retained for scientific or educational use needs to be permitted through the National Marine Fisheries Service (for marine mammals in the United States.) It’s not that big a paperwork hassle - the guys from NMFS know us and what we do with the parts. It would be a much bigger deal if someone unfamiliar to them asked for a permit. These parts cannot be sold. I’m sure a similar system applies to elephant tusks, although I’m unfamiliar with the details. **wevets** , this is among the 10 most fascinating posts I’ve ever read. In a sort of ghoulish, morbid way, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Backcountry\_Medic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Backcountry\_Medic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backcountry_Medic)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/23 "2009-03-04T16:43:46Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > That article has the funniest opening line I think I’ve ever read: Also the later line: > [@](#): > > “People would line up to see Puddles take a dump,” former penguin keeper Jane Tollini told The Chronicle three years ago when the zoo was celebrating its 75th anniversary. I can think of a lot of charming things about San Francisco. I wouldn’t say that an excrement flinging hippo was one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/24 "2009-03-04T18:15:02Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > …For the extremely large whales (in my area, that’s Sperm Whales, Grey Whales, Blue Whales, and Humpbacks) the necropsy is almost always done in place (there was one crazy incident in Taiwan recently where a large whale was transported to a lab for necropsy, and due to decompostion gases, it didn’t turn out well.)… I tell ya, Wiki has an article for just about _everything_: [Exploding whale - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale) ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2009, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/25 "2009-03-04T19:03:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > You mean a flatbed truck? I can’t imagine how you could possibly fit a mature elephant into a pickup truck bed. I can’t even fit my couch in one. Dude, hell no!!! Not even dead horses fit on those things, and we get our share of dead horses from outside the school, too! No, I meant either the big freight-type trucks or (in the case of horses), the regular transport trucks (which are built/designed to have horses in them). A covered freight truck, as one of the last things that Zoo Atlanta would’ve liked is for the public to see some car with the zoo logo hauling a dead elephant all the way from Atlanta to Athens. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2009, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729/26 "2009-03-06T02:56:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > **wevets** , this is among the 10 most fascinating posts I’ve ever read. In a sort of ghoulish, morbid way, of course. Thanks! I think I’ll have a new slogan: wevets - feeding ghoulish forensic fascinations since 2009. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dealing-with-large-dead-animals/487729.md?page=1)