https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/25/axolotl-mexico-ecology-pollution-campaign [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation Print subscriptions Sign in Search jobs Search US edition[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * International edition * Europe edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle ShowMoreShow More * [ ]News + View all News + US news + World news + Environment + US politics + Ukraine + Soccer + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Wellness * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 + Golf * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Wellness + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * [ ]US edition + UK edition + Australia edition + International edition + Europe edition * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian Licensing + About Us + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Wordiply + Corrections * + Facebook + Twitter * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian Licensing + About Us * World * Europe * US * Americas * Asia * Australia * Middle East * Africa * Inequality * Global development Pink and white otherworldly-looking amphibian with four legs and a sort of pink crest. [ ] For as little as 600 pesos, Mexicans can virtually adopt one of the tiny 'water monsters'. Photograph: Paul Starosta/Getty Images For as little as 600 pesos, Mexicans can virtually adopt one of the tiny 'water monsters'. Photograph: Paul Starosta/Getty Images Mexico 'We have to work urgently': Mexican ecologists start campaign to save axolotl Pollution has tamped population density by 99.5%, but scientists think cultural icon could aid in tissue repair and cancer recovery Associated Press Sat 25 Nov 2023 11.36 ESTLast modified on Mon 27 Nov 2023 10.08 EST * * * Ecologists from Mexico's National Autonomous University on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, a native, endangered fish-like type of salamander. The campaign, called Adoptaxolotl, asks people for as little as 600 pesos (about $35) to virtually adopt one of the tiny "water monsters". Virtual adoption comes with live updates on your axolotl's health. For less money, donors can buy a virtual dinner for one of the creatures, which are relatively popular pets in the US. In Mexican axolotls' main habitat, the population density has plummeted 99.5% in under two decades, according to scientists behind the fundraiser. 'They're inherently charismatic': the amateur sleuths hooked on sea slugs Read more Last year's Adoptaxolotl campaign raised just more than 450,000 pesos ($26,300) towards an experimental captive-breeding program and efforts to restore habitat in the ancient Aztec canals of Xochimilco, a southern borough of Mexico City. Still, there are not enough resources for thorough research, said Alejandro Calzada, an ecologist surveying less well-known species of axolotls for the government's environment department. "We lack big monitoring of all the streams in Mexico City," let alone the whole country, said Calzada, who leads a team of nine researchers. "For this large area it is not enough." Two wet hands hold a pink and a yellow slimy thing curved around each other. A worker shows an axolotl in a hatchery in Mexico City, Mexico, on 19 August 2019. Photograph: Action Press/Rex/Shutterstock Despite the creature's recent rise to popularity, almost all 18 species of axolotl in Mexico remain critically endangered, threatened by encroaching water pollution, a deadly amphibian fungus and non-native rainbow trout. While scientists could once find 6,000 axolotls on average per square kilometer in Mexico, there are now only 36, according to the National Autonomous University's latest census. A more recent international study found less than 1,000 Mexican axolotls left in the wild. Luis Zambrano Gonzalez, one of the university's scientists announcing the fundraiser, told the Associated Press he hopes to begin a new census (the first since 2014) in March. "There is no more time for Xochimilco," said Zambrano. "The invasion" of pollution is very strong: soccer fields, floating dens. It is very sad." Without data on the number and distribution of different axolotl species in Mexico, it is hard to know how long the creatures have left, and where to prioritize what resources are available. "What I know is that we have to work urgently," Calzada said. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to First Thing Free daily newsletter Our US morning briefing breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Axolotls have grown into a cultural icon in Mexico for their unique, slimy appearance and uncanny ability to regrow limbs. Scientists in labs around the world think this healing power could hold the secret to tissue repair and even cancer recovery. In the past, government conservation programs have largely focused on the most popular species: the Mexican axolotl, found in Xochimilco. But other species can be found across the country, from tiny streams in the valley of Mexico to the northern Sonora desert. Mexico City's expanding urbanization has damaged the water quality of the canals, while in lakes around the capital rainbow trout, which escape from farms, can displace axolotls and eat their food. Calzada said his team was increasingly finding axolotls dead from chytrid fungus, a skin-eating disease causing catastrophic amphibian die-offs from Europe to Australia. While academics rely on donations, and Calzada's team turns to a corps of volunteers, the Mexican government recently approved an 11% funding cut for its environment department. Over its six-year term, the administration of president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will have given 35% less money to the country's environment department than its predecessor, according to an analysis of Mexico's 2024 budget. 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