The Philly Zoo claims that some people confuse lifespan with life expectancy. Whats the difference?
We understand that Zoo officials need to make the public believe that elephants are living long and happy lives in zoos. So, among other things, Zoo officials claim that zoo elephants are living as long as wild elephants because of similar life expectancies. What Zoo officials leave out is that zoo elephants are not subject to poaching, the number one cause of death of wild elephants, and the cause of an artificially low life expectancy figure in the wild. See below (in italics) for the Philly Zoo’s latest public relations response to a concerned patron’s question about the elephants.
