Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate class globally, with chytrid fungus causing skin disease and death in hundreds of species, representing enormous individual welfare harm.
Amphibian declines represent one of the most severe wildlife welfare crises of the modern era. Chytrid fungus causes a skin disease that is prolonged and likely distressing before causing death. The scale of suffering across hundreds of millions of individual frogs, salamanders, and caecilians is enormous and largely invisible to public awareness. Conservation efforts including captive breeding programs, habitat protection, and experimental probiotic treatments represent meaningful attempts to reduce individual suffering alongside saving species. Amphibian welfare rarely features in animal welfare discussions but deserves much greater attention.