Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate group on Earth. Zoos play an increasingly important role in ex situ conservation, but meeting amphibian welfare needs in captivity requires specialist expertise.
Amphibian welfare in captivity is a specialist field that requires understanding of species-specific environmental and behavioural needs. Many amphibians are kept in conditions that prioritise disease management and visibility over natural behaviour expression — bare enclosures with limited microhabitat structure. Amphibians require precise temperature gradients, humidity levels, and substrate conditions. Social needs vary by species — some are aggregative, others territorial. Research into amphibian welfare indicators, including stress hormone levels and behavioural assays, is growing but lags far behind mammal welfare science. As the importance of captive amphibian conservation grows, so does the need to ensure the animals held in conservation programmes have lives worth living as well as lives worth preserving.