Recent Fox Attacks in Maine May Be Due to New Rabies Strain

-



mexican amphibian :: Article Creator

'We Have To Work Urgently': Mexican Ecologists Start Campaign To Save Axolotl

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."

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 González, 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

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.

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 Andrés Manuel López 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.


'Adopt An Axolotl' Campaign In Mexico Aims To Help Save Critically Endangered Species

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ecologists from Mexico's National Autonomous university on Friday relaunched a fundraising campaign to bolster conservation efforts for axolotls, an iconic, 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, donors can buy one of the creatures a virtual dinner.

In their main habitat the population density of Mexican axolotls (ah-ho-LOH'-tulz) has plummeted 99.5 percent in under two decades, according to scientists behind the fundraiser.

Last year's Adoptaxolotl campaign raised just over 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."

ANALYSIS: Why protecting very large swaths of land matters for wildlife conservation

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 a thousand Mexican axolotls left in the wild.

Luis Zambrano González, 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," said Calzada.

Axolotls have grown into a cultural icon in Mexico for their unique, admittedly slimy, appearance and uncanny ability to regrow limbs. In labs around the world, scientists 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 is increasingly finding axolotls dead from chrytid 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 percent funding cut for its environment department.

Over its six year term the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador will have given 35 percent less money to the country's environment department than its predecessor, according to an analysis of Mexico's 2024 budget.


Got 1 Min? 'Adopt An Axolotl' Campaign Returns To Raise Funds For Conservation

For the second year in a row, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) has launched the "AdoptAxolotl" fundraising campaign to boost conservation efforts for axolotls, an endangered Mexican salamander.

People can virtually adopt an axolotl for one month (US $30), for six months (US $180) or for one year (US $360). The adoption comes with live updates on the axolotl's health and an adoption certificate. Alternatively, donors can buy one of the salamanders a virtual dinner for US $10.

A gray-brown axolotl swims between two hands underwater, as if being released.Though most wild axolotl are speckled brown, they can also be pink, gold or gray (UNAM Restoración Ecológica).

Last year, the fundraising campaign raised over 400,000 pesos (US $23,000) for the conservation of the axolotl and its natural habitat in the freshwater canals of Xochimilco, south of Mexico City.

This year's goal is to double that number.

"There is no more time for Xochimilco," Mexican biologist and aquatic community restoration specialist Luis Zambrano told the Associated Press.

Zambrano has been working on conservation plans to protect the axolotl's natural environment for over 20 years. One of these projects is the maintenance of protected areas for the axolotls within the artificial islands (chinampas) of Xochimilco.

Floating artificial islands with crops and trees in the canals of XochimilcoThe chinampa method of building artificial islands has allowed farmers to grow crops on Mexico City's historic waterways for nearly a thousand years. (Secretaría del Medio Ambiente CDMX)

Scientists leading the fundraiser told the Associated Press that in less than two decades, the population density of Mexican axolotls in their primary habitat has decreased by 99.5%.

A 1998 census found 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer. It dropped to just 36 in the latest census, carried out in 2014 — and it just keeps getting worse, Zambrano told news outlet Sin Embargo.

Without current data on the number and distribution of different axolotl species in Mexico, it is difficult to know how much time these creatures have left in the wild.

"All I know is that we have to work urgently," Alejandro Calzada said, another researcher specializing in axolotls, adding that 18 species of axolotl in Mexico remain critically endangered due to water pollution, a deadly fungus that affects amphibians, and the presence of non-native rainbow trout.

With reports by Associated Press, Animal Político, Sin Embargo and WIRED





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All In The Family: Maine Mother & Son Charged in Massive Drug Bust

-
Image
corso dog :: Article Creator Woman Hospitalized After Attack By 2 Dogs At Same Edmonton Home Where Boy Died: Lawyer UPDATE: On April 15, 2024, the City of Edmonton provided an update on the fatal attack. It said that prior to the deadly incident on April 1, "the city had no lawful basis to remove the dogs from the home." The city added that "all prior complaints about the dogs involved in this incident were investigated thoroughly and appropriate action was taken in accordance with the applicable legislation." The city also said a review found that its staff "acted appropriately in accordance with our standard practices and in compliance with the relevant legal constraints given the nature of past complaints and reports." A woman was hospitalized after being attacked in February by two large Cane Corso dogs at the same home where an 11-year-old boy was killed last week, the woman's lawyer told Global News. "I
Read more

Rare Frogs And Illegal Drugs - Palisades Hudson Financial Group

-
Image
Colombian conservationist Ivan Lozano has hit on a brilliantly promising strategy to protect his country’s rare and endangered amphibians. His plan: Flood the market with them. Lozano is not hunting rare frogs in Colombia’s Andean forests. He is raising them himself and selling them at prices designed to undercut poachers and smugglers. If he can raise the frogs cheaply enough, and in large enough numbers, he might manage to drive down the market price to the point that poachers no longer find it worthwhile to harvest and smuggle the creatures onto the black markets. Lozano told The Associated Press that his company also encourages collectors to breed their own frogs. Picture yourself as a poacher. If the government toughens the legal penalties and steps up enforcement, you will shrug your shoulders; legal risks are a basic cost of doing business. Since the demand for your product already exists among foreign collectors and other buyers, tougher enforcement merely reduces supply a
Read more

Burn scars, winter storms threaten rare and endangered species in San Gabriel Mountains - The Bakersfield Californian

-
Image
LOS ANGELES — Up until a few weeks ago, the West Fork of the San Gabriel River was one of the most abundant wildlife habitats in Los Angeles County, a secluded and rugged area defined by its steep peaks, lush canyons and mixture of rare and endangered species. Recently however, a team of federal biologists and forest rangers was aghast when it visited the stream following the Bobcat fire, which has burned more than 115,000 acres in the heart of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. Terrain that once resembled a High Sierra granite gorge now looked like ground zero after a nuclear explosion, and the usually clean mountain air was sharp with the stench of smoke. Particularly unsettling were the bare and ashen slopes that were now primed to dissolve under pounding winter storms. A heavy mudslide, experts said, could reverse decades of conservation efforts by inundating the last outposts for such federally protected species as the Santa Ana sucker fish and Southern California m
Read more