Chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is causing amphibian extinctions globally, with individual animal welfare during disease progression a consideration alongside conservation responses.
Chytridiomycosis welfare creates a situation where the conservation and individual welfare dimensions of a crisis are inseparable. Individual frogs dying from chytridiomycosis experience progressive electrolyte imbalance that causes cardiac arrhythmia and eventually cardiac arrest - a distressing physiological failure that constitutes genuine animal suffering. The welfare of dying wildlife in disease outbreaks is an aspect of conservation crises that is rarely addressed explicitly, partly because the scale makes individual intervention impractical. Where individual treatment is feasible - in captive assurance colonies or in small, high-value populations - antifungal treatment provides welfare benefit alongside conservation value. Probiotic bioaugmentation that reduces disease severity in treated populations represents both a conservation and a welfare intervention.