Question: In captivity, an Orca has a life expectancy of 25 years, yet in the wild the are expected to die at 80 years old. Why is an Orca's life expectancy in captivity so low compared to in the wild?

Valeria Senigaglia answered on 18 Jun 2012:

Easy answer: killer whales are not supposed to be in captivity.

Long answer: killer whales are very social animals and they always travel in family pod, meaning they never leave their parents and all the individuals in a group are related. They have very complex behaviour, communication (they even have dialects) and hunting strategy. In captivity killer whales are usually alone or with few companions, sometimes these companions don’t come from their family. They don’t have the necessary space that they require to live and also they are more susceptible to diseases and also getting diseases from human that are normally not found in the wild.

There are also more complicated behavioural problems that can arise, for example they can simply get bored.