Naked mole rats are uniquely eusocial mammals with complex colony structures. Their welfare in zoo settings requires maintaining appropriate colony dynamics.
Naked mole rat welfare in captivity is relatively achievable because their underground, eusocial lifestyle can be approximated in appropriately designed tunnel enclosures. Maintaining the colony structure — particularly the queen-worker hierarchy that organises colonial life — is the primary social welfare requirement. Queens must be able to assert dominance; workers must have appropriate labour roles including nest building, food transport, and colony defence. The complexity of the tunnel system influences both physical and behavioural welfare — naked mole rats are highly motivated burrowers that require substrate and tunnel architecture allowing this behaviour. Their unusual biology — exceptional longevity, cancer resistance, and near-total blindness — makes them scientifically valuable animals that also deserve robust welfare consideration as sentient social mammals.