It’s the axolotl salamander – not a fish at all, really, but it’s nicknamed the Mexican walking fish.  It lives in only one place in the world, Lake Xochimilco in central Mexico; it used to live in another central Mexican lake, Lake Chalco, but Chalco has been drained to prevent flooding.  As you can imagine, the axolotl is now near extinction due to loss of habitat, competition for food with nonnative species, and the abysmal water pollution that Mexico City pumps out like a champ.

I found this guy on the Treehugger site, which has an informative post on the axolotl and its sad state of affairs.  Who knows what other creatures are quietly disappearing from the planet, unbeknownst to nearly everyone but a few scientists?   It’s a scary thought.  But then, there’s a somewhat brighter flipside to that: who knows what creatures you’re helping preserve when you recycle, or conserve water and energy?  It’s that big ol’ Circle of Life, and something to remember any time you start feeling that your  individual efforts don’t make a difference.

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Filed under: I'On Group on January 6th, 2009