Amphibians are the most threatened vertebrate class on Earth, facing multiple simultaneous pressures that cause population collapse and individual suffering.
Amphibian declines involve mass mortality events that cause suffering at extraordinary scale. Chytrid infection causes disruption of electrolyte balance through the skin, resulting in cardiac arrest — a protracted and distressing death. Beyond infectious disease, drought and habitat loss concentrate animals in degraded habitats where parasitism, competition, and predation intensify. Amphibian welfare is inseparable from their conservation crisis.