Male zoo animals die sooner than female: Some reasons

 Across 1,000 zoo species, females lived longer in most mammals, while males lived longer in most birds.

• Safe zoo conditions narrowed the lifespan gap but did not erase it, showing biology drives the difference more than environment.
• Mating systems played a major role: intense male competition and larger male body size shortened male lives.
• Humans fit the same pattern, with females living longer than males, though the gap is smaller than in chimps or gorillas.
• Exceptions like lemurs, raptors, and sea ducks reveal that social dominance and reversed size roles can flip the usual trend.