ANIMALS’ AGES
GREAT VARIANCE The longevity of animals varies considerably. The rapid multiplication of the rodent species is neutralised by its comparatively short career. Rarely do rats attain a greater age than five or six years. The average life of a hare is 10 years, and the domestic cat .14, although there are isolated cases on record when it has lived for 23 years. The usual duration of horses, asses, and zebras ranges from 15 to 3tf years; swine, 20 years; and domestic cattle, from 25 to 30. Higher in the scale comes the lion, the tiger, and the bear, with an average life of 30 years. Gulls are recorded to have lived for over 40 years, and ducks and geese beyond the half-century mark. It is the rule rather than the exception for the crow, the swan, and the eagle to top three figures. Parrots frequently live over 80 years, and tortoises have been known to have existed for two centuries. There is a carp in t.he lakes at Afarseilles which was placed there by AFarie Antoinette, who was guillotined in 1793. The longestdived creature of all, however, is the [whale, with a thousand years to his credit
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20108, 29 March 1928, Page 8
Word Count
199ANIMALS’ AGES Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20108, 29 March 1928, Page 8
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