{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-c03aa079.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-517835be.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Mexico City\u0026#39;s \u0026#39;water monster\u0026#39; nears extinction' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bea6d8eafeecae13d39c' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bea6d8eafeecae13d39c' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nMexico City\u0026#39;s \u0026#39;water monster\u0026#39; nears extinction\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eAP Television Mexico City, September, 2008 1. Close axolotl in tank AP Television - File Mexico City, 31 July 20012. Wide shot of Tlahuac canal (part of Xochimilco canal system)3. \"Trajineras\" (typical Mexican pleasure boat) passing byAP...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eMexico City, September, 2008 \u003cbr/\u003e1. Close axolotl in tank \u003cbr/\u003eAP Television - File \u003cbr/\u003eMexico City, 31 July 2001\u003cbr/\u003e2. Wide shot of Tlahuac canal (part of Xochimilco canal system)\u003cbr/\u003e3. \"Trajineras\" (typical Mexican pleasure boat) passing by\u003cbr/\u003eAP Television \u003cbr/\u003eMexico City, September, 2008 \u003cbr/\u003e4. Medium tank with axolotl swimming around inside \u003cbr/\u003e5. Close same \u003cbr/\u003e6. Medium pan left and right following  axolotl swimming around in tank \u003cbr/\u003e7. Close tag stuck on tank identifying the animal as \" Ajolote (axolotl) de Xochimilco\" \u003cbr/\u003e8. Medium researchers placing a rock inside tank with axolotl\u003cbr/\u003e9. Close same \u003cbr/\u003e10. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Carlos Olivera, Assistant Director, Chapultepec Zoo:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The ambystoma Mexicano, this species, is the axolotl of Xochimilco -- it's in severe danger of extinction. Basically, the causes of extinction are water contamination, destruction of habitat, the introduction of exotic fish including tilapia and carp and people hunting them to eat or to keep as pets.\" \u003cbr/\u003e11. Close axolotl swimming around in its tank \u003cbr/\u003e12. Medium axolotl swimming \u003cbr/\u003e13. Close pan left and right  axolotl swimming along edge of tank \u003cbr/\u003e14. researchers looking into tank \u003cbr/\u003e15. Medium researcher picking up  axolotl from tank \u003cbr/\u003e16. Close same \u003cbr/\u003e17. Close  axolotl swimming around in tank \u003cbr/\u003e18. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Carlos Olivera, Assistant Director, Chapultepec Zoo:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The censuses that biologists have done -- basically the only thing they tell us is that there are fewer and fewer of them. But  there's not an exact figure I could tell you, there are five thousand, three thousand or a thousand of them. There's not a precise census of these animals, because of the difficulty of finding them in the waters of Xochimilco. The local people and researchers say, though, that every time they go into the field, it's harder to find the animals in good shape and in any sort of number.\"\u003cbr/\u003e19. Close pan right along length of axolotl swimming around in tank \u003cbr/\u003eThe Mexican water monster is close to extinction according to animal conservationists. \u003cbr/\u003eThe axolotl, known as the 'water monster' or the 'Mexican walking fish', was a key part of Aztec legend and diet.\u003cbr/\u003eBut now increased contamination of its habitat has led to ever decreasing numbers of the species. \u003cbr/\u003eBeneath the tourist gondolas in the remains of a great Aztec lake lives a creature that resembles a monster  with its slimy tail, plumage-like gills and mouth that curls into an odd smile.\u003cbr/\u003eKnown as the 'water monster' or 'Mexican walking fish', the axolotl is a type of salamander. \u003cbr/\u003eThe creature was part of the Aztec  diet as well as the subject of numerous myths and legends. \u003cbr/\u003eAgainst all odds, it survived until now amid Mexico City's urban sprawl in the polluted canals of Lake Xochimilco, now a Venice-style destination for tourists poled along by Mexican gondoliers, or trajineros, in brightly painted party boats.\u003cbr/\u003eBut scientists are racing to save the salamander from extinction, a victim of the draining of its lake habitat and deteriorating water quality. \u003cbr/\u003eIn what may be the final blow, non native fish introduced into the canals are eating its lunch and its babies.\u003cbr/\u003eThe long-standing International Union for Conservation of Nature includes the axolotl on its annual Red List of threatened species, while researchers say it could disappear in just five years. \u003cbr/\u003eSome are pushing for a series of axolotl sanctuaries in canals cleared of invasive species, while others are considering repopulating Xochimilco with axolotls bred in captivity.\u003cbr/\u003eThe number of axolotls (pronounced ACK-suh-LAH-tuhl) in the wild is not known. \u003cbr/\u003eBut the population has dropped from roughly 1,500 per square mile in 1998 to a mere 25 per square mile this year, according to a survey by Zambrano's scientists using casting nets.\u003cbr/\u003eIt has been a steep fall from grace for the salamander with a feathery mane of gills. \u003cbr/\u003eMillions of axolotls once lived in the giant lakes of Xochimilco and Chalco on which Mexico City was built. \u003cbr/\u003eUsing four stubby legs to drag themselves along lake bottoms or their thick tails to swim like mini-alligators, they hunted plentiful aquatic insects, small fish and crustaceans.\u003cbr/\u003eLegend has it that Xolotl - the dog-headed Aztec god of death, lightning and monstrosities - feared he was about to be banished or killed by other gods and changed into an axolotl to flee into Lake Xochimilco.\u003cbr/\u003eThe axolotl's decline began when Spanish conquerors started draining the lakes, which were further emptied over time to slake the thirst of one of the world's largest and fastest-growing cities. \u003cbr/\u003eIn the 1970s, Lake Chalco was completely drained to prevent flooding. \u003cbr/\u003eIn the 1980s, Mexico City began pumping its waste water into the few canals and lagoons that remained of Xochimilco.\u003cbr/\u003eAbout 20 years ago, African tilapia were introduced into Xochimilco in a misguided effort to create fisheries. They joined with Asian carp to dominate the ecosystem, eat the axolotl's eggs and compete with it for food. \u003cbr/\u003eThe axolotl is also threatened by agrochemical runoff from nearby farms and treated waste water  from a Mexico City sewage plant, researchers say.\u003cbr/\u003eMeanwhile, the axolotl population is burgeoning in laboratories, where scientists study its amazing traits, including the ability to completely re-grow lost limbs. \u003cbr/\u003eAxolotls have played key roles in research on regeneration, embryology, fertilisation and evolution.\u003cbr/\u003eThe salamander has the rare trait of retaining its larval features throughout its adult life, a phenomenon called neoteny. \u003cbr/\u003eIt lives all its life in the water but can breathe both under water with gills or by taking gulps of air from the surface.\u003cbr/\u003eSo far, scientists disagree on how to save the creature. \u003cbr/\u003eBut a pilot sanctuary is expected to open in the next three to six months in the waters around Island of the Dolls, so-called because the owner hangs dolls he finds in the canals to ward off evil spirits.\u003cbr/\u003eResearchers from the Autonomous University of Mexico are proposing up to 15 axolotl sanctuaries in Xochimilco's canals, where scientists would insert some kind of barrier and clear the area of non native  species.\u003cbr/\u003eVets at Mexico City government's axolotl programme at Chapultepec Zoo are studying the possibility of\u003cbr/\u003eintroducing axolotls from the lab into the canals. \u003cbr/\u003eBut more research  is needed to make sure the process doesn't lead to disease and genetic problems from inbreeding.\u003cbr/\u003eXochimilco residents could be another source of resistance.\u003cbr/\u003eHundreds of people make a living pulling tilapia from canals or growing flowers, lettuce and vegetables on nearby land. \u003cbr/\u003eEfforts to remove the fish or shut down polluting farms could face stiff opposition.\u003cbr/\u003eBut while the debate goes on, time is running out for this ancient Mexican monster. \u003cbr/\u003eKeyword wacky animals fish\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-labelledby='resource-details-heading' class='rp-info-section'\u003e\n\u003ch2 class='title' id='resource-details-heading'\u003eResource Details\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-resource-details clearfix'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='detail'\u003e\n\u003cdl\u003e\n\u003cdt\u003eCurator Rating\u003c/dt\u003e\n\u003cdd\u003e\u003cspan class=\"star-rating\" aria-label=\"3.5 out of 5 stars\" role=\"img\"\u003e\u003ci 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