Which mammal lives the longest?
We take a look at some of the world's longest living animals to see how we compare.
1-2 YEARS: WEASEL LIFESPAN
Weasels make up for their short life by having up to 13 kits in a litter and up to three litters a year.
3 YEARS: HEDGEHOG LIFESPAN
Hedgehogs have tough lives: half die in their first year, and few live longer than three years.
12 YEARS: WOLVERINE LIFESPAN
The largest members of the weasel family, wolverines stay with their mother until the age of two, when they can start to breed.
14 YEARS: TIGER LIFESPAN
Young tigers suffer a high mortality rate, with 50 per cent dying before the age of one.
25 YEARS: BROWN BEAR LIFESPAN
Apart from humans, brown bears have few enemies – in Russia’s Far East, the Siberian tiger is a rare threat.
30 YEARS: LOWLAND TAPIR LIFESPAN
Tapirs are large, robust mammals. They may look like a meal for big cats such as jaguars, but they are rarely taken.
35 YEARS: WESTERN GORILLA LIFESPAN
Gorillas mature slowly and breed late – females give birth for the first time at the age of about 10, and have one baby every four years.
41 YEARS: BRANDT’S BAT LIFESPAN
Brandt’s bats live extraordinarily long lives considering their size.
56 YEARS: ELEPHANT LIFESPAN
Elephants are unusual among mammals other than humans in having a ‘use’ after they stop breeding – older females help to look after young calves.
80 YEARS: HUMANS LIFESPAN
We are the longest-lived land mammal, although there are a number of marine species that outlive us – bowhead whales can live for 200 years.
These facts originally appeared in BBC Wildlife Magazine’s The Big Book of Mammals.
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