In a recent study, researchers from the University of Guleph, in Ontario, Canada, examined records kept on hundreds of wild and captive Asian (Elephas maximus) and African (Loxodonta africana) elephants that died between 1960 and 2005. They found that about one third of female African elephants in Kenya’s Amboseli National Park lived past the age of 50, with a median age of 56 years for elephants that died of natural causes. (The “median” means that half the elephants died before 56, and half died after 56.) The researchers added that, because people frequently kill elephants from the Amboseli population, the overall median lifespan for the park’s female elephants, regardless of how they died was 36 years–20 years shorter than it would have been under completely natural (free from human interference) conditions., Can elephants live up to 70 years? Yes, elephants can live up to 70 years old, both in the wild and in captivity., Wild African elephants live 60–70 years, and Asian elephants live 48–60 years; captive lifespans are shorter, averaging 17–19 years. Lifespan depends on species, habitat, and threats like poaching, habitat loss, and disease..