Naked mole rats have become valuable research models for aging, cancer resistance, and pain research, raising welfare questions unique to their unusual biology.
Naked mole rat welfare in research presents unique challenges because standard welfare indicators do not apply to this species. Their natural insensitivity to acid and capsaicin pain is a research feature but complicates welfare assessment during procedures. Their obligate eusociality means isolation is acutely welfare-negative in ways not seen in most other rodents. Welfare assessment must be species-specific rather than borrowing from mouse and rat protocols.