These Mexicans are trying to save the volcano axolotl, a beloved and endangered amphibian

In Mexico, the volcano axolotl, a species of amphibian salamander, is in critical danger of extinction as rivers where they develop are drying out. An environmental group has launched a fundraising effort to save them.

MEXICO CITY — Leonidas Otlica Reyes is tormented by the drought experienced in Río Frío de Juárez, a town located in the state of Mexico, where for a year the rains have decreased to the point where the streams have become swampy puddles that cross the parched land.

"Right now we have a big problem due to the lack of rain. There is no water. The scarcity is too much," said Otlica Reyes, a 46-year-old waiter who since 2016 has been part of the Río Frío Conservation Group, an association focused on environmental protection.

For Otlica Reyes, the most worrying thing is not only the serious effects of the scarce rains on the area’s crops, but also the threat that looms over the volcano axolotl (Ambystoma leorae), an amphibian in critical danger of extinction. It receives 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, which are 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 any of that and right now that is the greatest danger we have for the axolotls.”

Axolotls belong to the genus Ambystoma and are a species of neotenic salamander, which means these animals maintain some juvenile characteristics throughout their reproductive life.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/axolotl-volcano-endangered-amphibian-mexico-drought-rcna153134

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