Study: Elephants live longer in wild than zoos
The Seattle P-I has a similar but longer version of the previous story here.
Zoo elephants don’t live as long as those in the wild, according to a study sure to stir debate about keeping the giant animals on display. Researchers compared the life spans of elephants in European zoos with those living in Amboseli National Park in Kenya and others working on a timber enterprise in Myanmar. Animals in the wild or in natural working conditions had life spans twice that or more of their relatives in zoos.
Animal care activists have campaigned in recent years to discourage keeping elephants in zoos, largely because of the lack of space and small numbers of animals that can be kept in a group. Debates have been especially vocal in Dallas and Los Angeles.
Also, download a PDF of the study referenced in this article entitled Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants.
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