# Axolotls: Are they all gone?



## Zidartha (Nov 16, 2012)

An interesting read:

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/mexico-s-water-monster-may-have-disappeared-experts-worry-1.1660080

Maybe I can start charging admissions to see mine. Honestly, it would be a sad day if they were gone from the wild...


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

They likely are. Animal conservation is not high on Mexico's list of things to do. Coincidentally I just bought one today and he/she is acclimating right now.


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

There are a million or more in the hobby and in university labs all over the world. The only lake in Mexico that they originally came from has been polluted for many years to the point where little if anything can live in it and they have had doubt's about wild survivors for a long time already.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I hope that the captive population can be used to keep the species alive. It would be a shame for another species to disappear because of us. Yes nature has creations that evolve and die off but this one was our fault.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Pretty sure most of the extinctions were our fault...


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

It is not the fault of collecting or hobbyist but the the Mexican government using the lake to dispose of raw sewage. They have been thought to be extinct for many years it is only now that it has been confirmed. 

The Monarch Butterfly is now at their lowest population ever. Again because of the Mexican government not enforcing the no logging treaty of their forest.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I hate to get into an argument but the monarch has problems with laying eggs on milkweed. There is a big problem in the Midwest with the milkweed being killed by farmers. Monarchs have a few places they call home, not just mexico. California has quite a few areas that are home to the monarch And these are all protected.


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

You may not have milkweed in Scarborough but most rural Ontario has loads of it. The Bruce Peninsula where I have a cottage has lots of milkweed and I normally have a fair number of larva on the roadside in front of the cottage. I also have a number of milkweed plants in my garden in Burlington and there has always been a number of larva every summer. It is not the lack of milkweed. If they can not survive the winter in Mexico how can they migrate north to breed?

I normally see hundreds of Monarch over the summer and fall. Last year I saw one in my yard in early October. I hope he made the trip south.


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## sphynx (Dec 17, 2013)

i watched a documentary a few days ago actually, and apparently they said they are trying to reintroduce captivated ones into the wild. Apparently in mexico they hve these breeding places where they monitor their health and stuff and little by little the re introduce them. Although i'm pretty sure that it's got to do with all the sewage and waste. Unfortunately, I don't have much hope in having them being repopulated in their natural habitat. 

Maybe they can be reintroduced somewhere else. It would definitely suck to have no more wild axolotls


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

Hey Charlie I managed to spot two in our garden in Oct. and we have milkweed planted in the garden as well.


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## Bwhiskered (Oct 2, 2008)

bob123 said:


> Hey Charlie I managed to spot two in our garden in Oct. and we have milkweed planted in the garden as well.


Let's hope they make a comeback.


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## Zidartha (Nov 16, 2012)

Not dead yet...

http://www.ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/enda...xolotl-spotted-not-caught-in-mexico-1.1700830


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