Elephants die earlier in zoos - DUH...

This is a sad story if ever I've read one.  A study published in the journal Science found that elephants in zoos - who often live in cramped, sterile and non-stimulating environments - live half as long as their "working" cohorts.

The average African elephant in captivity lives only 19 years, compared with an average of 56 years for elephants in the wild, according to the study.

Working elephants include elephants in Burma and other countries that are put to work by villagers (usually hauling logs out of the forest).  While I'm no fan of forcing elephants to work, at least they get to be with their own kind when they're not working, and retain some semblance of wildness.  

They live in the forest and stay closer to their family groups.  Perhaps most importantly they get plenty of exercise which keeps them fit, strong and healthy.

Zoos are awful and unfortunately the lonely life of a display animal is especially traumatic.  And deadly.

Tragic.

I'm glad to see the BBC picked up the story and hopefully mainstream domestic media will get hold of it soon.  People who visit zoos need to know about this.