Help Save a Salamander at Risk of Extinction by Adopting an Adorable Axolotl

Mexico’s National Autonomous University is campaigning to save the axolotl — a unique type of salamander beloved by the internet for its precious smile and pink hue — by asking the public to virtually “adopt” one of the creatures for as little as $10.

One of the few appropriate habitats for axolotls (“water monsters” in the Aztec language) is Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City. Though many axolotls live in captivity as pets or are used as food, their numbers are plummeting in the wild. Even though the critters are a beloved animal, the axolotl population has dwindled by 99.5% in less than 20 years.

"It's gotten worse. They're not completely extinct, but it's worse," said Luis Zambrano, an ecologist at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, via NPR.

The population is suffering from human-generated pollution. Mexico City residents have damaged the creatures’ wetland habitats, which makes them sick. In the 1970s, the Mexican government introduced carp, which breed quickly, into the axolotl homeland as part of a food security program. However, the fish destroyed the salamander population by eating their prey and consuming their eggs.

"It's a slow death basically," Zambrano added.
The most iconic species, the Mexican axolotl, is not the only kind at risk. There are over a dozen other types of axolotl, found in small streams across the country, that are in danger, as well.

Scientists are at a loss when it comes to howto save the axolotl, though the most important thing is that they act quickly. Money raised from the virtual adoptions will go toward installing filters in the canals of Lake Xochimilco to create healthy and pest free “sanctuaries.”

While the situation seems dire, Zambrano is optimistic. "We know what to do. We know where to do it. And we know that if we do that in those places, we will have a healthy population of axolotls,” he said.

With proper funding, sufficient resources, and enough public interest, scientists have been able to bring animals back from the brink of extinction before, including tigers in Nepal and snow leopards in Mongolia. And thanks to its charming smile, the wild Mexican axolotl might just be able to recover, too.

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Scientists are interested in axolotls’ neotenic natures, which means they keep “juvenile characteristics” into adulthood. The animals are studied for their regenerative ability, as well. They can regrow “limbs, lungs, heart, jaws, spines” and parts of their brain, meaning these little guys might serve as a key to unlocking the science of human regeneration.