We bet they are one of the people who prefer to keep their ticket axolotl, before dropping the 50 pesos for… say, parking? If they usually do, they are in the right place to meet the Stream axolotl and the fight for its preservation in Edomex.
He Arroyero axolotl is not as famous as the one in Xochimilco —better known as the Mexican axolotl—, but it is super important for the ecosystem of the State of Mexico.
And if they are fans of the tickets of the axolotlstay to read these lines to meet another species in the family Ambystomatidae and know what we can do to protect it from the risk of extinction.
With you: the stream axolotl
To learn about the stream axolotl and the fight for its preservation in the State of Mexico, in Sopitas.com we talked with Diego Chaparro Herrera, biologist graduated from FES Iztacala —from UNAM— and who launched, along with another group of specialists, a bill to protect Ambystoma Altamirani.
He Ambystoma Altamirani or stream axolotl is one of the 33 species of the family Ambystomatidae —of which there is only one genus, the Ambystoma.
Of this group, 18 are distributed throughout Mexico and 17 are endemic. That is, they are typical of a certain area of our country.
Unfortunately, the row with the family Ambystomatidae is either endangered or threatened —At least 11 are under special protection, 3 threatened, among them the axolotl, and one in danger of extinction, which is the axolotl from Xochimilco.
(All this according to the risk categories of NOM 059 SEMARNAT-2010. If you want to check what other species are on the list, here we leave the link).
Axolotl
Only in 2020 did the Bank of Mexico announce that it would put into circulation a 50-peso bill with the image of the Ambystoma Mexicanum —the Mexican axolotl—, in the midst of a kind of boom that arose around the ajolotito.
Although we’re not quite sure if everyone really tastes good what is the axolotl and why since pre-Hispanic civilizations has attracted attention.
For a start, the axolotl is not a fish and we can almost almost say that its cousins are frogs or salamanders because it is an amphibian.
An amphibian that has been part of the diversity of our culture and whose name comes from Nahuatl axolotl — “a/atl” refers to water and “holotl”, monster. Which means that the meaning of this word is water monster.
how did he axolotl earned this name? It goes again: its roots are linked to the myths of the pre-Hispanic era, which relate that when the gods met in Teotihuacán to create the universe or the Fifth Sun —offering their lives in exchange—; Quetzalcoatl’s twin did not want to cooperate.
It was Xólotl —god of the Sunset—, who, like other gods, had to throw himself into the fire, but at the mere hour he ended up fleeing and being persecuted by the god of the Wind Ehécatl.
To get away with it and that Ehécatl would not find him, Xolotl became corn, maguey and a dog until he decided to dive into the depths of the rivers in the form of an axolotl or axolote.
From God to an endangered species
Beyond this myth, the axolotl continued to dominate the rivers and streams of Mexico until over the centuries this species began to be threatened by our very activities.
What seemed to be a balanced coexistence between people and axolotls —because in the old days it was usual to see them in the bodies of water that formed in CDMX itself when it rained— ended up reducing the spaces of this species.
To such a degree that the The Mexican axolotl —the one from Xochimilco— is considered an endangered species. And the stream axolotl is considered an endangered species. Because?
“The main problem they have is that the aquatic systems are declining,” Diego Chaparro Herrera told us in a Zoom chat, from his laboratory at FES Iztacala.
Chaparro Herrera explained how different human activities affect the environment of the stream axolotl in the tower, in areas such as Villa del Carbón, Tepozotlán, Nicolás Romero or Jilotzingo.
Or in more serious cases, it has come to disappear as it has happened in Cuajimalpa in CDMX.
Is about “The uncontrollable felling of trees, as there are no trees we begin to see little water and then the water that is there is being stolen”.
The UNAM biologist —specialized in Aquatic Ecology, Food Ecology and Reintroduction of Endangered Species— also mentioned that the water in these areas of Mexico is used to supply the CDMX.
And all this combination of jobs, exploitation of resources and pollution of riversin the end it reduces the water systems that the axolotl needs, along with enough oxygen, to live.
The initiative to preserve axolotls and their environment in Edomex
This is one of the parts of the story that we want to tell you the most and we hope it resonates because a group of students, graduates and researchers from UNAM have promoted a bill to preserve the axolotl in the State of Mexico.
It’s about the Special Law for the Preservation of the Axolotl and its Environment in the State of Mexico.
A law to not only preserve the axolotl, but also the habitat in which it develops, “with a socially inclusive approach and socio-environmental perspective”.
Something historical and unique the State of Mexico, where there is no such law. “The purpose of this is to save the axolotl, but also to save the ecosystem”explained Diego Chaparro.
This group of specialists took the initiative to the Edomex Congress. “Not many turned to see us… only a deputy from an area totally far from the area was the one who answered us”said the UNAM researcher.
Viridiana Fuentes, PRD deputy for Tultepec, was the one who took a look at this initiative.
And together with Diego Chaparro’s team, Fuentes put together the design of the initiative in terms of legall, while the specialists were in charge of explaining the importance of a bill like this.
For Chaparro it is easy: it is about this law working as a flag or an umbrella.
“That it draws attention and draws resources for the axolotl and everything that is around it, as has happened with the vaquita or that the axolotl functions as an umbrella and that in its shadow all species of mammals, plants or others amphibians are protected on par”.
An environmental law with a social perspective
To achieve this, Diego Chaparro explained to us that this initiative is not taxable. That is, it seeks to reach the inhabitants of the areas where the stream axolotl lives so that the efforts are shared by all.
“Having a synergy with the inhabitants, with the natural resources and with the axolotl itself that can help to generate work.”
This initiative is already on the table in the Congress of the State of Mexico, but the FES Iztacala specialist told us that they are looking to reach the CDMX Congress.
(What do they say out there, get to the The Chilango Congress works as a platform so that the laws that are approved and are taken to the Congress of the Union and reach a national level approval).
Repopulation from Edomex to CDMX
He Diego Chaparro’s team is also working on the repopulation of axolotls. For example, they are now translocating some stream specimens from Nicolás Romero and Villa del Carbón to Cuajimalpa, in the Desierto de los Leones.
All this effort, mentioned Chaparro, is inspired by 2 works by UNAM graduates: Citlalli Vargas and Daniel Camacho —who by good fortune grew up in Edomex, in Tepozotlán and Nicolás Romero, respectively.
Y “Since they were little they have been related to this problem and that is where they focus their knowledge.”
The difference between the Arroyero and the Mexican
Besides that kind of smile expression on his face, axolotls have earned the admiration of Mexico and the world for its qualities.
That is, for his ability to fully regenerate their limbsafter an attack —and that has led to his study to work on projects of therapies against cancer or tissue regeneration.
The similarities between species range from their legs with four fingers on the front members and five on the back, the color of your skin ranging from shades of brown, gray with black, greenish, pink or white —known as albinos.
And its famous external gills and lungs that allow them to live between terrestrial and aquatic environments.
We stop here just to tell you about a difference between the axolotl and the axolotl from Xochimilco.
“The Ambystoma Altamirani has very marked differences with the Xochimilco axolotl, mainly due to the habitat, they are categorized by aquatic systems into 2 aspects: lotic and lentic.”
Diego Chaparro emphasized that the lotics are those who are constantly runningsuch as rivers, streams or streams and the lentic, which are systems similar to that of Xochimilco, where the water is stagnant and there is no constant fluctuation.
Although despite the difference in their habitats, these two species are either endangered or threatened.
How to help?
“Take care of the water because curiously this water that comes from Nicolás Romero, Villa del Carbón, Tepoztlán is the one that CDMX is consuming in the Madín dam, the water arrives and is distributed”.
This is the message of Diego Chaparro Herrera to conclude this talk on the fight for the preservation of the stream axolotl.
Whose habitat is besieged by the indiscriminate felling of trees, pollution of rivers, theft and excessive consumption of water of these rivers and even the effects of climate change.
“It seems that all life they are smiling and that we hurt them in this way”.
So to reverse the damage and preserve the axolotl and its ecosystem, a first step we can take is to learn a little more about the initiatives that are at the doors of the congresses of the State of Mexico and CDMX and promote them, talk about them, share them.
Even send them to the candidates for the governorship of the State of Mexico in these 2023 elections because the “Axolotls are also from Mexico and deserve to be cared for”.
