The RSPCA is calling for elephants to be phased out of zoos across Europe because the animals suffer from poor welfare and die young.

In the first major study into the welfare of elephants in captivity, scientists at Oxford University found the lifespan of adult elephants in European zoos to be about half that of elephants in the wild or even working elephants in Asian timber camps.

In the wild, elephants could expect to reach 60 or 65, but they die young in captivity due to unsuitable enclosures, inadequate diet, inappropriate social grouping and rough treatment at the hands of their keepers. Enclosures are typically very small with 90 per cent of those in Europe providing no grazing and the RSPCA says the money would be better spent on protecting elephants in the wild.

The report comes two weeks after the National Federation of Zoos issued the world's first management guidelines for the welfare of elephants in zoos. The result of three years' consultation with zoo managers, keepers, vets, biologists, nutritionists and others, the guidelines recommend current best practice in all aspects of elephant welfare and will be given to members of the Zoos Forum.

'Standards will be monitored and those zoos that don't comply should not keep elephants,' said chair of the federation's elephant group, Chris West. Details: +44 (0)20 586 0230