Xochimilco is the original natural habitat....Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City

Villagers travel in a traditional trajinera boat in a canal in Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City, Wednesday Oct. 8, 2008. Xochimilco is the original natural habitat of the endangered Axolotl salamander, or Ambystoma Mexicanum, and Mexican and international researchers are racing to save it, pushing for the creation of a series of Axolotl "sanctuaries" in sections of canal cleared of invasive species where it can thrive.

A veterinarian handles an Axolotl salamander, or Ambystoma mexicanum, in Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, Sept. 27, 2008. Scientists warn that the roughly foot-long amphibian is just a few years away from extinction, a victim of the draining of its lake habitat, deteriorating water quality, and what is perhaps the final stake in its heart: the invasion of non-native fish species that are eating its eggs and larva, and competing with it for food.



An Axolotl salamander, or Ambystoma mexicanum, swims to the surface for air in a tank at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, Sept. 27, 2008. Scientists warn that the roughly foot-long amphibian is just a few years away from extinction, a victim of the draining of its lake habitat, deteriorating water quality, and what is perhaps the final stake in its heart: the invasion of non-native fish species that are eating its eggs and larva, and competing with it for food.

An Axolotl salamander, or Ambystoma mexicanum, swims in a tank at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, Sept. 27, 2008. Scientists warn that the roughly foot-long amphibian is just a few years away from extinction, a victim of the draining of its lake habitat, deteriorating water quality, and what is perhaps the final stake in its heart: the invasion of non-native fish species that are eating its eggs and larva, and competing with it for food.

A canal in Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City, Wednesday Oct. 8, 2008. Xochimilco is the original natural habitat of the endangered Axolotl salamander, or Ambystoma Mexicanum, and Mexican and international researchers are racing to save it, pushing for the creation of a series of Axolotl "sanctuaries" in sections of canal cleared of invasive species where it can thrive.