MEXICO CITY — Leonidas Otlica Reyes is tormented by drought in Río Frío de Juárez, a city in the state of Mexico, where rain has decreased for a year to the point where the streams have become swampy puddles that crisscross the parched land .
“Right now we have a big problem because of the lack of rain. There is no water. The scarcity is too great,” said Otlica Reyes, a 46-year-old waiter who has been part of the Río Frío Conservation Group since 2016. , an association focused on environmental protection.
For Otlica Reyes, the most worrying fact is not only the serious consequences of the scarce rainfall for the area’s crops, but also the threat looming over the Axolotl volcano (Ambystoma leorae), an amphibian that is in danger of extinction. It gets its name from its habitat near the Telapón and Tláloc volcanoes, in the mountainous enclave known as the Sierra Nevada, east of Mexico City. In that area are the Tula and Río Frío streams, the only places where this species of axolotl develops.
“We had never felt this heat, nor had we seen this drought,” Otlica Reyes said dejectedly in an interview with Noticias Telemundo. “There is no river precipitation. We don’t have that and right now that is the biggest danger we have to the axolotls.”
Axolotls belong to the genus Ambystoom and are a type of neotenic salamander, meaning these animals retain some juvenile characteristics throughout their reproductive lives.
Felipe Osuna López, an academic at the Colegio de la Frontera Sur and member of the Río Frío Conservation Group, said that axolotls are of great importance in the ecosystem because they are the main predator in the streams and help maintain the biological balance in the area retain. .
“They are an excellent bio-indicator; they keep the invertebrate population at bay and thus contribute to maintaining water quality,” explains Osuna López. “If the axolotls are doing well, it means that the water bodies are in good condition and water supply is guaranteed for thousands of people in neighboring communities.”
Axolotls live in rivers and streams, so the characteristics of these habitats have determined their evolution. This has made them very vulnerable to changes in these water bodies, Osuna López said. This has led to a notable population decline due to factors related to habitat modification, such as river pollution, according to a 2018 study by Mexico’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources.
Osuna López, together with Otlica Reyes and others, launched a fundraising campaign to save the axolotls that are languishing and dying in the area’s water bodies. According to their estimates, fewer than 200 individuals of this species remain in the area’s streams.
“For the first time in this dry season, the water stopped flowing in the Tula Stream and stagnated, leaving the axolotls clinging to their survival,” said Osuna López. “Fortunately, we were able to detect it in time and took it upon ourselves to move the axolotls to areas with better conditions.”
According to Osuna López, the axolotl population had increased in numbers. “The bad thing is that in Tula, where we had the largest population, the lack of monitoring and presence meant that these climate attacks were not detected in time and the population dropped,” he said.
The latest figures from the National Water Commission (Conagua) show that the absence of rain is a national problem: 67.97% of Mexico’s territory is experiencing moderate to exceptional drought, which is affecting ecosystems and has led to an increase in the number of forest fires by 60%.
In the case of the volcano axolotls, the Río Frío Conservation Group’s campaign aims to raise 65,000 Mexican pesos (about $3,900) for monitoring work, maintenance of water bodies and educational campaigns with the community, among other things.
“This is a reactive strategy to overcome this dry season and help the axolotls. We move them, we monitor them and maintain pool levels so they have the conditions to survive,” Osuna said López. “In the medium term, we need to restore these flows as much as possible so that they can hold a greater amount of water.”
‘Part of our identity’
The Mexican axolotl has great importance in the country’s culture dating back to pre-Hispanic times. The Aztecs considered the axolotl a manifestation of Xolotl, the twin god associated with death and transformation.
“The axolotl first appears in pre-Hispanic codices and is associated with Aztec gods. The axolotl was the twin brother of Quetzalcoatl and is thus represented in mythology. Culturally, this amphibian is part of our identity,” says Diana Vázquez Mendoza, researcher at the Ecological Restoration Laboratory of the Biological Institute of the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The gender Ambystoom consists of 33 species spread across North America, from southwestern Alaska and southern Canada to the Mexican highlands. In the case of Mexico, according to data from the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, there are 17 species distributed in the northeast and center of the country.
Of that total, 16 are endemic, as is the case with the specimens of Ambystoma leorae, better known as the axolotl volcano, and the Ambystoma mexicanum, these are the best known axolotls and are found in Xochimilco, an area south of Mexico City known for its network of canals surrounding agricultural plots called chinampas.
According to Osuna López, the volcano axolotl species is much smaller than, for example, the Xochimilco axolotl. “Our species averages about 6 inches from snout to tail. And it shows great morphological variation. We have gray, black, brown, yellow. We had green tones, even with reddish tones, but unfortunately they have already been lost,” he said.
Vázquez Mendoza said that because they are amphibians, axolotls are “very delicate animals that are very sensitive to environmental changes because of the type of skin they have and their morphology.” And it’s clear that there is a climate change problem that is affecting ecosystems at a local level.”
The researcher explained that the Xochimilco axolotls are also at risk due to the urbanization of areas near their habitat, changes in environmental conditions and the pollution of canals and other wet areas where the species develops.
For Otlica Reyes, what is happening to the axolotls is not an isolated event, he said with concern. Communities need to be constantly aware so that they can mobilize and protect their local flora and fauna.
“It is not a problem for the axolotls, but for the entire community, both humans and other living things,” he said. “We all need water, but right now the axolotls are really missing it.”
An earlier version of this story was first published in Noticias Telemundo.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com