Zoos increasingly keep invertebrates from spiders to giant African snails. Their welfare needs and capacity for suffering are uncertain but deserve precautionary consideration.
Invertebrate welfare in zoos is an emerging field reflecting growing scientific interest in invertebrate cognition and sentience. While the capacity for conscious suffering in most invertebrate groups remains uncertain, precautionary welfare principles suggest providing appropriate environments. Key parameters include species-specific temperature and humidity, appropriate substrates for burrowing or climbing species, suitable diets, and conspecific social grouping where natural. Some groups like cephalopods show clear evidence of complex behaviour and likely sentience; others like snails have limited evidence of pain capacity. The diversity of invertebrate groups means welfare guidance must be tailored to each taxon's biology.