Polluted canals
Wastewater and agricultural runoff have degraded the Xochimilco canals that hold the entire wild population.
Your symbolic adoption supports the Wildlife Connect Axolotl Fund, which provides funding to vetted organizations working to protect axolotls and their habitats.
Checkout opens soon.
| Item | $25 | $50 | $100 | $250 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gold plated 2026 ornamentFree through December 20th, 2026 | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Personalized adoption certificate | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| Collectible species cardFront and back | Included | Included | Included | Included |
| 8" plush | Not included | Included | Not included | Not included |
| 12" plush | Not included | Not included | Included | Included |
| Wildlife Connect tote | Not included | Not included | Not included | Included |
The axolotl is everywhere and almost nowhere. Millions live in tanks around the world while the wild population has nearly vanished from the single lake system it has always belonged to. Behind any chance of recovery is work happening in one city: canals restored, water quality repaired, introduced fish removed, and insurance populations held by Mexican universities.
A symbolic adoption turns that work into something personal.
Your adoption helps support the organizations protecting axolotls and the canals of Xochimilco. This is one of the rare conservation problems that is small enough to actually solve, and restored chinampa canals have already been shown to hold water clean enough for axolotls. It has never had much money behind it. The species is Critically Endangered, and recent surveys of the wild population have struggled to find any at all.
And your adoption gives you something to hold onto, too.
You'll receive a personalized adoption certificate and a collectible, numbered species card that tells the story of the animal you're helping protect. At higher adoption levels, you'll also receive an axolotl plush: a small, tangible reminder of something much bigger.
Because the best gifts don't disappear when they're opened. They spark curiosity. They start conversations. They remind us that an animal living in a canal in Mexico City is part of our world, too. Its future is something all of us can help protect.
Adopt an axolotl. Help protect its canals. Become part of its story.
Population trend: decreasing. The axolotl is Critically Endangered, and recent surveys of the only place it still lives in the wild have struggled to find any at all.
Wastewater and agricultural runoff have degraded the Xochimilco canals that hold the entire wild population.
Both eat axolotl eggs and young, and both are now established throughout the canal system.
Mexico City's demand for water lowers the canals and shrinks what remains of the lake system.
The species survives in the remnants of a single lake, which makes a local problem a species-level problem.
Funds from our axolotl adoptions go to the Wildlife Connect Axolotl Fund, which supports vetted wildlife sanctuaries and conservation organizations working to protect axolotls, their habitats, and the many species that live alongside them.
Learn about our impact