Amphibians face extinction at rates higher than any other vertebrate class, making zoo captive breeding programmes critical - but amphibian welfare in captivity requires specialist attention.
Amphibians present unique welfare challenges because their needs are highly specific, sensitive to parameter variation, and less intuitively obvious than mammalian needs. Incorrect temperature gradients, inadequate UV-B provision, wrong substrate moisture, or poor water quality create chronic welfare problems that are invisible to casual observation. The stakes in amphibian conservation captive breeding are extremely high - these populations may represent the last individuals of a species - making both welfare and husbandry excellence urgent.