Unsurprising News of the Week (Elephant Edition)

[snurri]

Zoo elephants live far shorter lives than their counterparts in the wild; according to a study published in Science--between 22 and 39 years shorter. Naturally the zoo administrators are saying that facts aren't true.

Comments

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

One thing that surely would skew the data and conclusions is elephant infant mortality -- I'm guessing that the wild population might very well have uncounted dead babies. I'd want to see data that matches up elephants of similar ages over similar periods of time.

I'd also love to see some data about circus and other 'working' elephants in SE Asia -- if they're kept busy, socialized, and skinny, I bet they do pretty well.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

This is heartbreaking and makes me furious.