How can axolotl be both critically endangered and so cheap and available in pet stores?
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They’re critically endangered in the wild since their natural habitat is pretty much gone. They’re considered endangered because they wouldn’t be able to repopulate on their own outside captivity.
Like many amphibians Axolotl don’t require much to breed in capitivity and for a professional breeder they’re pretty low cost and low effort.
In the wild they also share the same problems as many other amphibians in that they’re very vulnerable to habitat destruction and pollution (it’s even more of a problem for the axolotl since they can’t even move short distances over land) and in the case of the Axolotl their habitat is being overrun by Mexico city (the lakes that haven’t been drained have problems with pollution). And as if that wasn’t enough several predator species have been introduced into the lake/canal system where there is still an axolotl population.
The endangered ones in the wild are protected. The breed in labs and stores has been diluted over a long period of time, and it’s unfortunate because an axy can regenerate in incredible ways, and scientists can’t do much more in studying them because the captive breed is.. weaker. If the habitat in Mexico wasn’t so limited for various reasons, we might have a thriving population and an excellent breed of creature to study regeneration with.
edit: taxolotl
Have you ever seen a wild, undomesticated cow? An animal being bred under human control, for pet trade, zoos, farms etc is not a substitute for having a wild breeding population in nature.
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People are glossing over just how thoroughly their habitat has been destroyed. Invasive fish clog the lake, eating up all the eggs and babies. Sewage and trash is dumped directly in the lake. It’s an environment that’s difficult for *anything* to live in, even the hardy axolotl. It would be very easy to save them, but no one cares enough to protect the lake.
A lot of species are endengered or even extinc in the wild meanwhile they persist pretty well in captivity, it’s a bit far fetched but cattle for example, their ancestors auroch is extinct in the wild yet there are atleast twice as many cow breeds as there are country in the globe. A counter example would be pigs, they thrive in captivity and they thrive in the wild
Endangered typically refers to the population in the wild. In controlled conditions, it is easy and cheap to breed them. But their habitat is getting damaged so they cannot exist in large numbers without existing in a tank. So we cans breed them, but there is no longer a natural habitat to support them
Axolotls are a special case where their original habitat is within a single lake, and it’s pretty much been destroyed. Since they’re incapable of living in the wild, breeding and selling them as pets is one way to keep their species from dying out
Scientists bred axolotls for experiments and now they can only breed in captivity because the only lake they were native too is polluted to the point of no return.
Also they are derpy dudes and sometimes they just like eat each others legs 😂.
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