Sad news: baby elephant has died.

[albert_dao]

Actually, I have another thought to add:

In terms of intelligence, there is a lot of evidence that dolphins possess a greater capacity for intelligence then humans (do google search on "dolphins smarter then humans" or something to that degree, there will be a fair amount of results). It's just a matter of need vs. resource vs. environmental demand that prevented them from becoming the dominant species on the planet as far as I'm concerned. That and the power of the posable thumb.

Empathy in animals has been documented in many instances. Hell, there was an award winning two hour documentary on it called "Why dogs smile and chimpanzees cry." I highly suggest for anyone who hasn't seen it to do whatever they can to get their hands on it. Priceless. During this documentary, you'll see countless undeniable examples of animals who experience happiness, anger, sadness, grief, and gratitude. Watching it, I found it hard to attribute these emotions as merely derivative behaviors connated from basic instincts like territorial aggression or maternal bonding.