The mighty creatures only live half as long as they should do when they are kept in captivity.
Fact File
Asian elephants
Only about 40,000 in world: half are in India
Smaller ears than African ones
Females don't grow tusks
Talk to each other by touch, sound and scent
Young put tip of trunk in an adult's mouth when nervous
The RSPCA are shocked at the study and now want zoos to give up their elephants.
They also want them to treat the ones they have better by giving them more pools, rubbing and scratching posts, mud wallows, and even heated rubber flooring.
The main problems zoo elephants have include:
Bad diets
Not enough space
Inadequate social groups
Illness
Bad breeding programmes
Rough treatment by keepers
There are about 500 elephants in Europe's zoos and circuses at the moment.
But the RSPCA say the money needed to keep elephants in captivity could be better spent on protecting them in the wild where they would have more room and healthier lives.
Hear story!
Watch Becky Jago's report
Talk about animals!
Vote: Zoos - right or wrong?
Don't forget the elephant quiz
Chris' circus elephants poem
