Current Events > I wonder how many zoomers are going to get thousands of axolotls killed

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/20/1130079687/axolotl-pet-salamander-minecraft

The axolotl, with its permanent grin and youthful-looking body, has captured hearts thanks to TikTok and the popular video game Minecraft, which added the salamander to its universe in 2021. More and more people have been getting them as pets.

"I would attribute about 90% of axolotls' popularity to Minecraft and TikTok, but mostly Minecraft," Jake Pak told NPR over email.

He says nearly every kid who comes to Axolotl Planet, the breeding and sanctuary company he co-owns, is there to see one in real life after learning about them from the game.

Children often ask for blue ones, which are the rarest in Minecraft, and are disappointed to find out that it's genetically impossible for the animal to be blue.

Eric Rasmussen, who owns The World of Wet Pets in Portland, Ore., says the store has carried axolotls for many years. It has been only in recent months that he has seen people's interest in them skyrocket.

"I mean, this year is pretty much the year that we can't keep them in stock," he told NPR over the phone. "And because demand is so high, the value of the doggone little things has gone through the roof."

He estimates that they're about twice the cost they were last year, and he expects prices to go up especially since they've now become designer animals, with some having a modified protein that makes them glow fluorescent under a blue light.

Customers accidentally breeding them has been the most reliable source for axolotls for Seattle's The Fish Store, according to employee Cory Giess. He told NPR that the shop has struggled to get them from breeders and that most of the current stock is from a customer who accidentally bought two of the opposite sex.

Pak explains that there can be risks when a customer breeds axolotls, whether they intend to or not.
One concern is inbreeding. If someone doesn't know the bloodlines of their animals, there's a "very high chance" that offspring could carry fatal recessive genes, Pak explained. Right now, he said, eyeless axolotls are popping up in the industry as a result of inbreeding.

There's also the commitment it takes to care for these animals.

"Axolotls can lay over 1,000 eggs at a time, and if you do not have the space, time and knowledge required to care for the babies, then they will most likely all die prematurely or, as we are seeing with New Zealand, creating a crisis of abandoned axolotls," Pak said.

In New Zealand, axolotl owners have been relinquishing the creatures to pet shelters en masse. In a Facebook message to NPR, the pet store Scales, Feathers, Fins & Fur in Dunedin said it has around 2,000 of them in its care.

In an email to NPR, Blue Ridge Reptile Rescue (which sometimes cares for amphibians too) said that it can be quite difficult to rear the amphibian "by accident."

"Get eggs accidentally, sure, but they require special care for incubation, and you must breed and maintain special food for the hatchlings. No one does this by accident," it stated.

Some owners might be taking these steps without realizing the consequences of hatching hundreds of baby axolotls, and the rescue fears that people may be breeding them with the intent of selling them for easy money and then getting stuck with them.

Giess urges customers to bring unwanted animals to a pet store or sanctuary rather than release them into the wild. Even animals as seemingly harmless as an axolotl can potentially wreak havoc on an ecosystem.

"In California, they're actually illegal to buy or sell," he explained. "Because if someone gets sick of theirs and they release it, there's a nonzero possibility that the axolotls can reproduce with local endangered species of salamanders, and that is a really major problem for anyone trying to actually keep those species alive."

Before going full throttle to adopt an axolotl to coddle, experts from pet stores, rescues and breeders recommend becoming informed on how to responsibly care for the adorable animals.

They'll buy one because it's hype for a minute, then forget about it and either return it or straight up get it killed

This happens every time there's a popular animal in media, because people are stupid and don't think of them as living things

I hear u leik mudkips

Imagine endangering a species because the quirky block game and social media made it look cool

TC sounds like a vegan.

Hey anybody wanna make another Finding Nemo spin-off, so people will all want to get clownfish again?

https://youtu.be/3V9EEX7Jc9Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UPBhGjKvno

Axolotls are unmorphed salamanders.

sigh. i remember when i trolled my family into getting newts.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


It's not. Many times throughout history when there was a new media that had an animal as part of it, sales of those animals go waaaaay up, and almost entirely by owners who know nothing about what they're adopting.

There were HUGE spikes of Dalmatians after 101 Dalmatians and the sequel. Clown and other fish after Finding Nemo. Etc, etc.

DipDipDiver posted...

This happens every time there's a popular animal in media, because people are stupid and don't think of them as living things

It's even worse than that. Some people don't respect animals because they feel they shouldn't have to because they believe humans are superior to animals and that we should dictate the value of other living things and decide if they should live or die because we have the power to do so in general, as the dominant lifeforms on the planet. It's a really disgusting mentality to have and it's why this planet is in shambles.

Number090684 posted...

Some people don't respect animals because they feel they shouldn't have to because they believe humans are superior to animals and that we should dictate the value of other living things and decide if they should live or die because we have the power to do so in general, as the dominant lifeforms on the planet.

Well... yeah.

Like totally tripping over this weirdly titled topic

Theres a golf course in town with a walking path surrounding it and its quite popular for people who like taking walks.

Every year, the city needs to go in and catch all the Easter rabbits and euthanize them because if they dont, the poor little animals get diseases. They let it go before and youre tripping over them, theres so many.

"eyeless axolotls are popping up in the industry as a result of inbreeding."

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/1/9/0/AAfNgnAADuFW.jpg

Gamespoht posted...

Imagine endangering a species because the quirky block game and social media made it look cool

this is the dumbest thing to say lol

the species was already almost extinct like a decade ago and basically the only way it still exists is in captivity, either as pets or (probably more commonly) as a biology research specimen. their natural habitat is not really getting any better either and I don't think it's unreasonable to say that the popularity of them in captivity is basically what is propping up the entire existence of the species

Oh dey done ded

NecroFoul99 posted...

Every year, the city needs to go in and catch all the Easter rabbits and euthanize them

oh god. there used to be an albino bunny sighting where i live across the street then a trapper decided to remove it. (it was probably doing fine).

bunnies are also a problem in the towns near me (i do like appearances like that of the bunny).