CONSERVATION leaders say keeping elephants in zoos is “archaic, unethical and damaging” in an explosive report released today.

Charity Born Free has slammed attractions such as Colchester Zoo for allegedly knocking 30 years off the animals’ lives.

Figures from the charity’s report, Elephants in Zoos: A Legacy of Shame, reveal 40 per cent of infant elephants in zoos die before the age of five.

Further statistics show there are 49 elephants currently held in UK zoos, with Colchester Zoo having four of them.

The Maldon Road park’s Elephant Kingdom is one of its most impressive enclosures, with its website saying it gives all elephants maximum sight, sound and physical contact.

But the Born Free report concludes the four-legged gentle giants should not be held in captivity and the practise should be phased out.

Read more: Colchester Zoo issues heartbreaking update on its last lion

Born Free founder Virginia McKenna said: “Elephants are living treasures, they no more belong in a zoo or a circus than in the sea or the sky itself.

“It is fundamentally wrong to confine these beautiful animals for our entertainment.”

The comprehensive report argues the majority of elephants in European and North American zoos develop and display abnormal behaviours, such as compulsive rocking and swaying.

It also identifies zoos as “net consumers of elephants”, stating this is due to high infant mortality rates, poor reproductive success, and reduced longevity.

The large animals can suffer dramatically shortened life expectancies, a multitude of health problems, and cannot participate in the social and behavioural norms of their species, experts argue.

Chief officer of Sheldrick Wildlife Trust, Angela Sheldrick said: “No zoo in the world can provide elephants with the complex social structures and vast spaces they need to thrive.

“It is our moral responsibility to ensure no more are subjected to such purgatory and to find solutions for those who are.”

Colchester Zoo says its premises has specially designed night stalls, a roped off safe area and spacious indoor bull elephant quarters.

Its website reads: “Colchester Zoo’s charity, Action for the Wild, supports the Elephant Orphanage Project in Zambia, with its mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release orphaned elephants into protected reserves”.

A Colchester Zoo spokeswoman said she could not comment at this moment in time.