Amphibians are facing the most severe extinction crisis of any vertebrate class, with zoo captive populations providing a critical welfare and conservation safety net.
Zoo amphibian welfare is both a conservation imperative and an individual welfare responsibility. Species maintained in zoo facilities may represent the last of their kind — their welfare is inseparable from the conservation of their entire species. Amphibian welfare requirements are often more complex than mammals or birds: temperature and humidity gradients that allow behavioral thermoregulation, appropriate UV exposure, live prey items that maintain hunting behavior, and complex environmental structures. Stress from inadequate environments manifests in immunosuppression that can trigger disease. The chytrid crisis has made amphibian husbandry expertise one of the most conservation-critical skills in zoological practice. Well-maintained captive populations provide the source animals for potential future reintroduction when wild habitats are restored or treated for chytrid.