This is how scientists are working to find all who remain

While the axolotl becomes a global icon, a star in laboratories around the world, an exotic pet and Even a character in Minecrafthis only natural home on the planet is about to disappear. The last time an exhaustive census was made, in 2014, scientists They could only find 36 copies in the Xochimilco channelssouth of Mexico City. A decade later, the search has begun again and is a counterreloj race to save this amphibian.

The question is if any. In 1998, Xochimilco’s waters They housed 6,000 of these creatures per square kilometer. By 2008 this figure had collapsed to 100. Now, the question asked by the Ecological Restoration Laboratory of the UNAM is If one is still alive in this environment.

A search between networks and DNA. Each sunrise, while a magic fog rises from the canals, Basilio Rodríguez, a former fisherman in the area, throws his stroke into the water. He does not look for fish to eat, as their ancestors did, but to the axolot, an animal that he himself remembers as a delicacy: “smooth, soft, juicy, very rich.” But today, the networks go up again and again with the same disappointing capture: tents and tilapias, two invasive species that are, in part, guilty of this story.

But traditional fishing is not the only strategy they are following. Great hope is deposited In an innovative technique such as environmental DNA analysis. To carry it out, scientists collect water samples to look for the genetic traces that the axolotes leaves in its path. And it is one of the opportunities they have in their front by not having found any axolotes.

An amphibian with regenerative capacity. Ajolote is an extraordinary animal. He is famous for his neotany, that is, the ability to remain in a larval state throughout his life. This eternal youth, linked to their stem cells, gives it a superpower that fascinates science: Regeneration. If you lose a leg, a piece of brain or heart, you are able to regenerate it completely in a matter of hours.

A fragile species that goes to the abyss. There are different factors that influence the disappearance of this species. The first of these are the invading species that have invaded their ecosystem. The tents have devoured axolote eggs, while the tilapias are eaten to the young and compete for the food. No less important is the destruction of your home, since Xochimilco’s water has been drastically deteriorated by urbanization, pesticides of agriculture and pollution.

Noise and tourism is also something that can be lethal for these amphibians. Being night animals that love silence, the presence of humans in their natural habitat making floating parties makes their ‘happy’ place become an impossible place for them.

Famous in the world and absent at home. While its wild population disappears, the axolotes is living an explosion of global popularity. Its regenerative capacity is key in research on aging and cancer. His adorable appearance has made him In a merchandising product: T -shirts, keychains and stuffed animals.

But experts warn. Having thousands of Ajolotes in captivity, many of them albinos and modified for research, will not save the species. The key is to restore its habitat, a titanic task that would cost about 30 million euros, according to researcher Luis Zambrano.

The rescue plan is already preparing. Given the impossibility of cleaning everything Xochimilco at once, the UNAM team has launched an ingenious plan B: Create Ajolot shelters. The idea is to collaborate with the Chinamperos, the local farmers who cultivate in the artificial islands.

The project consists of restoring the chinampas and surrounding them with moats and filters that prevent the passage of tilapia. In these small aquatic coffers, you could introduce seats raised in captivity with a genetic as pure and similar as possible to wild ancestors.

They already look for money to carry it out. To finance this new project, the UNAM launched the campaign “Adopt an Axolotl”. In this way, for about 30 euros, anyone could adopt virtually one of the 140 copies that live in the center, give it name and help finance the creation of these shelters. Something that gave them an income of four million pesos.

There are many animals in dangers of extinction. In addition to the ajolotes, in Spain this is a problem that is also present, as in the case of the Canary Islands, which is considered as the community with more species in this situation. Those responsible They can be other animalsbut Also humansas in Brazil.

Images | Mattias Banguese

In Xataka | During World War II, Australia sent an ornitorrinco to Churchill. Died on the trip and 82 years later we know why