A Mexican University’s Campaign to Save the Iconic Axolotl

Ecologists from Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) have launched the Adoptaxolotl 2024 campaign, seeking to raise funds to help axolotl conservation through virtual adoption.

The axolotl is a type of salamander that has become known worldwide due to its unique look as well as the ability to regenerate its limbs. Native of Mexico, it was first classed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 1996. Ten years later, it was reclassified as Critically Endangered.

By 2019, the was believed to have declined by 80% or more since 2003 – and the situation has not improved. Axolotl species are found in very limited wetland areas in Mexico, such as Xochimilco and Chalco. They have been decimated over the years by factors such as pollution, the deadly chytrid fungus, and predation from the non-native rainbow trout.

Luis Zambrano González, from the UNAM Institute of Biology, says that the axolotl is “on the verge of extinction”.

Race Against Time

“If we don’t do something it will be lost to wildlife in a short time,” González said. “In less than 20 years we went from 6,000 to 36 per square kilometer.”

In a bid to save the iconic species, the Institute of Biology’s Ecological Restoration Laboratory (LRE) is raising funds through its Adoptaxolotl initiative. With a donation, members of the public can virtually adopt an axolotl and receive updates on its progress. All money raised will go towards a breeding programme as well as efforts to restore the axolotl’s natural habitat, so that colonies can be re-established in the wild.

A previous fundraising campaign, which lasted from November 2022 to September 2023, raised over 456,000 pesos – the equivalent of roughly £21,000. As well as habitat restoration and the creation of refuges, the fund helped maintain an experimental colony of 120 axolotls.

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