内容摘要：An antique carousel horse sits amid the wreckage of Bayou Billy’s Country Fair amusement park in Chimney Rock Village, N.C., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

An antique carousel horse sits amid the wreckage of Bayou Billy’s Country Fair amusement park in Chimney Rock Village, N.C., on Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Allen G. Breed)

Trees surround a lake at Xochimilco Ecological Park, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)Trees surround a lake at Xochimilco Ecological Park, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

“Despite there being many varieties, the axolotl from the area is a symbol of identity for the native people,” said Cruz, who participated in activities hosted at the museum to celebrate “Axolotl Day” in early February.While there are no official estimates of the current axolotl population, the species Ambystoma mexicanum — endemic of central Mexico— has been catalogued as “critically endangered” by theof Threatened Species since 2019. And though biologists, historians and officials have led efforts to save the species and its habitat from extinction, a parallel, unexpected preservation phenomenon has emerged.

to its game in 2021 and Mexicans went crazy about them that same year, following the Central Bank’s initiative to print it on. “That’s when the ‘axolotlmania’ thrived,” Cruz said.

Axolotls scurry around during a media presentation before their release into the canals of Xochimilco, a borough of Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte)

Axolotls scurry around during a media presentation before their release into the canals of Xochimilco, a borough of Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte). Follow Joshua A. Bickel on

@joshuabickel. Follow Annika Hammerschlag on InstagramThe Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s

for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas atSTOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden said Saturday it will step up insurance checks on foreign ships in a move aimed at tightening controls on Russia’s so-called