A recent study has just showed that living in a zoo drastically shortens the lives of Asian and African elephants, and that's because of stress and obesity. These results have provoked a sharp response from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. However, the researchers, who studied data from European Zoos, are not recommending that zoos abandon elephants. They say their findings suggest that imports of elephants should be limited to zoos that can identify and threat their problems. They also think that transfers between zoos should be minimized and breeding efforts be limited to zoos with a record of success.

Paul Boyle, the senior vice president for conservation and education at the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, say that this study is flawed and that it reflects an antizoo agenda. He says he doesn't remember the last time elephants were imported into the U.S. for a zoo. Researchers also mentioned that it had long been known that zoo-raised elephants were at risk of becoming overweight or falling prey to behavioral disturbances, foot trouble and diseases like herpes. Of course, activist groups have now urged that elephant conservation efforts be limited to maintaining elephant populations in the wild.

The researchers, from Guelph, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and elsewhere, have studied more than 4,500 elephants, most of them female, and they say bringing elephants into zoos impairs their viability. The study has been published in Friday's issue of the journal Science. The data is clear: the median life span for African elephants that are zoo-born is 16.9 years, while elephants in the park have a median life span of 56.0 years, and the examples could go on. However, more research is needed to determine what factors contribute to survival of zoo elephants.