The Mexican salamander called the Axolotl which means ‘sea monster’, is facing extinction and perhaps alarmingly may soon disappeared altogether. Its only known natural habitat is the Mexico City’s remaining southern lakes or canals that have become polluted.
The legends say that Xolotl, being the Aztec god of death feared he was about to be killed by other gods and so morphed into an Axolotl allowing him to run into the lake. The Axolotl is worshiped by the Aztecs because of its healing powers and is believed by scientists to hold the key to limb regeneration and reversing the ageing process.
This amazing creature, a gift from the gods, has baffled scientists for decades in its sophisticated and super healing regenerative abilities. They are trying to sequence its genetic code with the aim of applying it to modern medicine.
Sadly there are now more Axolotls in research laboratories than the ancient divine waters of Lake Xochimilco, its natural habitat.
However, projects are underway by researchers to preserve the Axolotl by cleaning contained areas of the lakes and an attempt to repopulate the species if possible. The giant lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco where Mexico City is built, is where millions of the creatures once lived and no more than a few hundred are now recorded.
I was watching a BBC Documentary, presented by Nick Baker, it showed well, the dire situation that the Mexican Salamander is up against. They go to Mexico City and discuss with scientists and conservationists on the Salamander’s uncertain future, due to the intense heavy toxic pollution that the nature waters are subjected to where the city is build.
The show well the creature’s delicate habit that is being destroyed by man made pollution but also what is being done to preserve and protect the Axolotl.
To highlight how close the Salamander is to extinction, the documentary showed how difficult it is to find the species in the lakes, that are breeding and living naturally, since their numbers are so low.
They went out with the filming crew in the wilderness to demonstrate the situation and what unpleasant polluted waters they are living in and new introduced foreign species are preventing them from breeding correctly.
Lets look at this from the follow perspective.
If I said to you hey the Elephant, Lion, Giraffe, etc, is endangered of extinction, but it won’t matter as we have them in Zoos or captivity. I am sure there would be an outcry but the silence is deafening when it comes to the Salamander!
I see many in the new age or earth loving people, along with climate change advocates, on social networks like Facebook all the time sending out petitions galore on things wrong with the Earth and species being abused.
But where is the humanity for the Salamander?
Yet in comparison this creature’s importance to other life in the wild, due to it being the keeper to unlocking nature’s secrets and causing a revolution in science. You would think there would be massive protests.
According to the Mexican academy of sciences based on a study in 1998, numbers averaged at 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer. This figure, however, has dropped to 1,000 in 2003 and – wait for it… only 100 in 2008….
A massive call to action is required!
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