科學(xué)家們努力拯救墨西哥的美西螈

Scientists are worried about the future of the axolotl， an unusual Mexican salamander2， and they’re asking for help. The axolotl is a strange， but amazinganimal. Most salamanders go through a big change which allows them to live on land，but axolotls never do. They keep their gills3 and live their whole lives in the water.They can grow a new leg if they lose one.

There are several different kinds of axolotls in Mexico. All of them are in greatdanger. The Mexican axolotl， which is the best-known， is only found in LakeXochimilco near Mexico City. The number of axolotls in Xochimilco has dropped99.5% in less than 20 years.

Scientists at Mexico’s National Autonomous University （UNAM） have beenworking for years to try to save the axolotls. In 2022， the UNAM scientists started aprogram called “Adopt4Axolotl”. They asked people to donate5 money to pay forsaving the axolotl. The program was great， and raised more than $26，000. In 2023，the scientists were trying AdoptAxolotl again. The scientists hope it will raise evenmore money than 2022.

科學(xué)家們很擔(dān)心一種罕見的墨西哥蠑螈———美西螈的未來，他們正在尋求幫助。美西螈是一種奇怪但神奇的動(dòng)物。大多數(shù)蠑螈會(huì)經(jīng)歷巨大的變化，讓它們能夠在陸地上生活，但美西螈不行。它們保留著鰓，一生都生活在水中。如果失去一條腿，它們可以長(zhǎng)出一條新腿。

墨西哥有幾種不同種類的美西螈。它們都處于嚴(yán)重的瀕危狀態(tài)。最著名的墨西哥美西螈只能在墨西哥城附近的霍奇米爾科湖找到。在不到20 年的時(shí)間里，霍奇米爾科湖的美西螈數(shù)量下降了99.5%。

墨西哥國(guó)立自治大學(xué)（UNAM）的科學(xué)家們多年來一直致力于拯救美西螈。2022 年，UNAM 的科學(xué)家們啟動(dòng)了一個(gè)名為“收養(yǎng)美西螈”的項(xiàng)目。他們請(qǐng)求人們捐款拯救美西螈。這個(gè)項(xiàng)目非常成功，籌集了超過26000 美元。2023 年，科學(xué)家們?cè)俅螄L試開展該項(xiàng)目。他們希望這次能籌集到比2022 年更多的資金。