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In captivity the animals have an average lifespan of just 20 years compared with 50 years in their natural habitat. The study by wildlife charity Born Free – Elephants in Zoos: A Legacy of Shame – also found that 40 percent of caged infants die before reaching the age of five.

Small enclosures and being housed alone were listed as likely factors, with campaigners urging the Government to end their confinement.

The charity’s founder Virginia McKenna OBE, 90, said: “Elephants are living treasures, nature’s great teachers, gardeners of the forests.They no more belong in a zoo or a circus than in the sea.”

The star of the hit 1966 movie Born Free added: “It is wrong to confine these beautiful animals for our entertainment.”

Of the 580 elephants in Europe’s zoos, 49 are in 11 facilities in Britain.

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