As of 2021, what is the classified conservation status of the wild axolotl?

The world’s most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species is the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Established in 1964, the IUCN uses a standardized set of precise criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of the species.

These criteria are relevant to all species and all regions, globally. The IUCN uses a Red List as its strong scientific base and is recognized worldwide as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity.

As of 2021, the wild axolotl is classified as Critically Endangered. A year earlier, wild axolotls were near extinction due to urbanization in Mexico City and consequent water pollution as well as the introduction of invasive species such as tilapia and perch, both fish. This amphibian is only native to the freshwater of Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in the Valley of Mexico, a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly near present-day Mexico City and the eastern half of the State of Mexico.

Estimates place the decreasing population at 50 to 1,000 adult individuals. The axolotls were also sold as food in Mexico markets and were a staple in the Aztec diet.

Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of taking to the land, adults remain aquatic and gilled.

Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate limbs, gills, and part of their eyes and brains.