Maggie Down Again

The Alaska Zoo's elephant went down again yesterday. A distressing trend, although she was righted more quickly this time.

Regarding the individual quoted at the bottom of the story as saying zoo elephants are dying in their 40's and tend to live longer in the wild, remember that humans tend to live into their 70's and 80's but also die in their 30's, 40's and 50's. And, more to the point, I have heard it argued that most zoos have not exhibited elephants long enough to have developed a real average.

To use the human example again, imagine that a large group of young people move onto a deserted island. After 20 years some have died; after 30 years some more have. You might say that people on that island are dying in their 40's and 50's, whereas people tend to live to about 80. The fact is that after 200 years you might find that the people on the island live just as long as everyone else, on average.