How long do dolphins live? Survival rates and life expectancies for bottlenose dolphins in zoological facilities vs. wild populations

Abstract

Survival rates and life expectancies are commonly agreed upon indicators of well-being for animals in zoological facilities, but even the most recent survival statistics for bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in marine mammal parks and aquariums use data that are now more than 25 yr old. The current study provides a comprehensive assessment of life expectancy and survival rates for bottlenose dolphins in U.S. zoological facilities from 1974 to 2012, utilizing three different analyses (annual survival rate, age-at-death, and Kaplan-Meier), examining historical trends, and comparing to comparable data from wild populations. Both survival rate and life expectancy for dolphins in zoological facilities increased significantly over the past few decades, with a modern ASR of 0.972, and mean and median life expectancies calculated via Kaplan-Meier of 28.2 and 29.2 yr, respectively. Survival rates and life expectancies for dolphins in U.S. zoological facilities today are at least as high as those for the wild dolphin populations for which there are comparable data.