Vets are debating whether caged animals
should be kept alive longer than in the wild – or be allowed to die
Tom Bawden Environment
Editor
Friday 11 March 2016
He is one of Blackpool Zoo’s best-loved
residents, famed for his sexual appetite as much as his gentle demeanour. And
at 94 years of age, Darwin
But the creature’s longevity is not
welcome news for everyone. Darwin UK
Illnesses such as cancer, arthritis,
osteoporosis and kidney failure, long associated with ageing human beings but
rarely detected in animals, are cropping up in zoos with increasing frequency.
This is because animals have typically not lived long enough before for these
symptoms to afflict them.
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