Zoos provide animals like these ring-tailed lemurs at England’s Bristol Zoo Gardens with toys and special foods to enrich their activities. Matt Cardy/Getty Images

Can animals have mental disabilities?

Animals can be born with genetic or developmental issues that make it hard for them to live normal lives. They also can develop mental health problems in response to conditions around them.
A common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) off Croatia in the Mediterranean Sea. Reinhard Dirscherl/ullstein bild via Getty Images

Octopuses and their relatives are a new animal welfare frontier − here’s what scientists know about consciousness in these unique creatures

Animal welfare laws don’t protect invertebrates, but there’s evidence that some, such as octopuses, are as intelligent as many mammals – even if their cognition takes very different forms.

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