Has the Axolotl dissapeared ?

Axolotls are hardy fellows, so it may still be premature to annouce them extinct in lake Xochimilco. The national university of mexico, where i teach, is carrying out releases of hundreds of captive bred axolotls in certain areas of lake Xochimilco, but these animals have less genetic variation than the former "wild" population and may not be as resistant. Perhaps the adequate regeneration of lake Xochimilco, which is in metropolitan mexico city is impossible and the ending will be an ecological collapse. It still is a sad situation.
 
it is indeed a bizarre situation with the axolotl where there are probably millions kept as pets worldwide, but they are virtually extinct in the wild.....
 
in the case of the chinchillas and most of the freshwater fish, the reason they are extinct or nearly so in the wild is due to over-hunting (for chinchillas) and in the case of the fish mostly due to over-fishing for the aquarium trade. The axolotl I feel is different because its habitat has been largely destroyed.
 
there was a small documentary on British TV a couple of years ago when Nick Baker went in search of the wild axolotl he stated it was extinct or near extinct in the wild due to among other things invasive fish I think Zanda but not sure now. He did find at least one in the lake used for the rowing in the Mexico City Olympics. I wonder if they are still there?
 
Yes, Lake Xochimilco (which is very large, but shrinking every year) was used in the 1968 olympics and is the final area of the "wild" axolotl.
 
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