Recent research reported that both Asian and African elephants that live in captivity have a shorter life, probably due to stress and obesity issues. Yet, the researchers state that it is not advisable for the zoos to abandon the animals.

Georgia J. Mason, one of the researchers, pointed out that “zoos are consumers rather than producers of elephants” at the moment and only zoos that know how to tackle the issues regarding these animals should breed these species. She also stressed that elephants are very sensitive animals and, therefore, transferring them between zoos should be done only if imperatively needed.

The research gathered data from about 4,500 elephants studied in researches made from 1960 until 2005. There was gathered data from African and Asian Elephants in European Zoos, African elephants from Amboseli National Park in Kenya and Asian elephants used in lumber harvesting by an agency of the Myanmar government, the Myanma Timber Enterprise. The research calculated the mortality rate of the elephants, excluding premature and still births.

Even though the study shows that elephants’ life expectancy somewhat grew, there is still a big gap to be recovered. The average life span of the African elephant was of 56 years in the Kenyan national park, compared to a mere 16.9 years in the zoo. The Asian elephants live a little bit longer in zoos, about 18.9 years, but it is still lower than the ones used by the Myanmar government, which live for approximately 41.7 years.

The researchers state that these issues were known long before this study. There were several associations, activist groups that blamed the zoos for offering poor life condition to elephants. The main problems included obesity, foot problems, tuberculosis and herpes. These associations have always pointed out that the only reasonable thing to do is to breed the species in national parks.

Reactions aroused immediately from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Paul Boyle, the senior vice president for conservation and education at the association argued that the study is “terribly flawed”. He stated that no zoo from the United States has imported elephants for a long time. Regarding the mortality comparison between wild and captive elephants, Boyle declared that the study didn’t take account of wild elephants killed by people and questioned whether a research whose basis is 1960’s studies and data could be unbiased.

Researcher Georgia Mason stated that more researches are needed to find out which are the causes that lead to elephants’ life shortening and seek for solutions in order to improve the conditions that these animals live in.