In normal circumstances an elephant can live for 50 to 70 years (unfortunately few elephants can live for quite so long nowadays). After it turns 60, an elephant is on its last set of molars and becomes unable to chew its food properly and so becomes progressively weaker and eventually dies. The oldest elephant could be Raja, a temple elephant in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is claimed he reached the age of 82, but experts doubt this story..

The most common causes of elephantsí deaths are infections, heart or lung failure, contagious diseases, or general weakening if a drought has lasted too long. Unfortunately an important cause of death among elephants is man...

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