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Home » Articles » Questions & Answers (FAQs) » Elephant Lifespan: How long do Elephants live? The average lifespan of an elephant in the wild is around 50 to 70 years.
Elephants have a varied lifespan depending on whether they are in the wild or in captivity. In the wild, elephants generally live to about 60 years of age. In captivity, they can live up to 80 years of age.
Elephants are among the longest-living land mammals, second only to humans. In captivity, elephants often have shorter lifespans. African elephants in zoos frequently die before age 40, with some studies reporting an average of just 17 years.
What Is the Average Lifespan of an Elephant? The average lifespan for Asian elephants is 48 years. African elephants typically make it to 60 or 70. Sadly, zoo-dwelling elephants have the shortest lifespans.
The average life expectancy of an African elephant is around 70 years, while their slightly smaller relative, the Asian elephant, has a life expectancy of around 60 years.
African elephants live for 56-70 years in the wild but only live for an average of 17 years while in captivity. Asian elephants live for 40-70 years in the wild but only live for an average of 19 years while in captivity. Some elephants die within a few years of being in captivity.
Wild African elephants live 60–70 years, and Asian elephants live 48–60 years; captive lifespans are shorter, averaging 17–19 years. Lifespan depends on species, habitat, and threats like poaching, habitat loss, and disease.
The simplest–though slightly misleading–answer to “how long do elephants live?” is, somewhere between 60 and 70 years. But that’s only how long they can live if everything goes well for them.
Discover how long elephants live in the wild. Learn what affects an elephant’s lifespan and How Long Do Elephants Live is more complex than you think.
If you’re looking for the simple answer, here it is: African elephants live for around 56 years in the wild. And aside from humans, they are the longest-living land mammals on the planet. But in many ways, asking about the lifespan of elephants is like asking; ‘how long is a piece of string?’.