IN response to Barry Mead's letter in the Mercury on November 11.

Research at Oxford University and elsewhere has found that zoo elephants have a lifespan one third to one half the length of wild or working elephants.

Their fertility is low, stillbirths common and any live calves rejected or killed by their mothers. Elephants are intelligent animals which need, in order to thrive, large family groups.

The excellent natural history programmes on TV show just how much they interact and communicate with one another. Thank goodness that the welfare of wild animals is so much better understood in the 21st century than when I was young.

Mary Johnson, Address supplied.