Conversation with Alejandro Calzada - Biologist, Ecological Conservation and Ajolote Expert
Alejandro works for an NGO, based in Central Mexico, and is a specialist in the field of Mexican amphibians: notably salamanders and Ajolotes. He has collaborated with ZSL (London Zoo), who funded his research project exploring more about the Granular Salamander Ambystoma granulosum, near Toluca city. This was from 2015-18, and Alejandro has kept a professional and personal interest in the knowledge and exploration of various Axolotl species across Mexico. The thing is, he tells me, is that there really isn't that much information about their "basic biology", available for some of these elusive species. Not even photographs. Some of the photos on record of the rarest species, are actually his, from his own phone whilst in the field.
Yet these underwater creatures are intertwined with the lives of the people living by the lakes. Once in abundance, Ajolotes and Achoques were a fabulous food source for people of poorer, rural communities - historically fished as a source of good protein. They were also used for traditional medicine. But now with polluted waterways, and introduced predatory Tilapia, Carp and Trout, many of these species are under threat: much like critically endangered the Mexican Axolotl on the brink of extinction in Xochimilco. Yet the scale of threat of the different Axolotl species across Mexico vary dramatically. Alejandro is convinced that collaborating with local people, before a situation gets past the point of no return, is key to saving the species in the wild.
"That species (imagine one species of Axolotl), is a part of their lives. So if you communicate they are losing the same species they used to eat when they were a child, that their Grandma's prepared... they start to think - this Axolotl is an important part of our lives, our communities. So if you generate these ideas, you notice the change in behaviour." Humans and Axolotls are intertwined: saving a species is not really about saving the species alone. It is about preserving a way of life, preserving an ecosystem. Allowing new relationships and guardianships to form between human and more-than-human. Gaining trust and facilitating long term collaboration; creating awareness to the plight of the special and unique creature, (the fact they are critically endangered) which might not already be known, is key. Change does not happen over night, but poco a poco, information needs to be shared and understood. Much like my conversation with Cata Lopez about a wider societal animal rights campaigns, you cannot shout or scream at people to force a change in behaviour or opinion. It doesn't work like that - especially when tradition and loss is bound up in the situation. Alejandro works with local people to help balance and limit the amount of fishing (for example only in particular months of the year, or catching juveniles and not reproducing adults) so the Axolotls have a chance to breed. He has encouraged communities to observe and record numbers of Axolotls in the wild, allowing a connection and direct collaboration. He doesn't want to change the way the people live, he just doesn't want the whole socio-ecosystem to collapse from underneath them. "We need to stimulate the initiative that local people change their minds, and take care of the Axolotls."
But unfortunately, although funding for his research does indeed come from the Mexican Government - the 'National Commission of Protected Areas' funds the current field work is monitoring into a fungal bacteria, a global 'super-fungus', that has begun to debilitate salamander population. It grows on the skin, a very porous breathing organ for the Axolotls. Alejandro is comparing the difference and diversity of bacteria on the same species of Axolotl in protected and disturbed areas, to compare and evaluate. Yet various departments do not seem to communicate much. Where on the one hand Alejandro and his team work on 'bottom-up' conservation methods with local people to preserve the Axolotl's ecosystem and way of life, other departments release yet more Tilapia. These bulldozing fish are the fish equivalent to locusts. Eating everything, and unbalancing the food webs: they compete with Axolotls for small fish and insects for food, and even eat the Axolotl eggs and babies. Really, they aren't good news. But somehow there is no bridge in conversation.
And the conversation needs to be wider, Alejandro tells me. In the same way conservation attention flows to save the charismatic Giant Panda; in the salamander world, the pink charismatic Mexican Axolotl gains more likes and shares on social media, compared to the more regular looking, camouflaged or speckled mole salamander. And I understand the public's fascination. These rare and albino looking Axolotls are alien-like, and cute. As much as I agree with Alejandro, that it is a benefit to gain attention towards amphibians through a flagship species - we need to see past the cuteness and really think about the wider picture. And we have the chance now to encourage awareness about Axolotls and Achoques all over Mexico, that may not be on the brink of extinction - yet. Controlled development and protection laws need to be enforced. And polluting practices for tourists and visitors from the city to the country (e.g. a trout farm that proves a popular fishing destination, where Trout swim downstream to disrupt the Axolotl habitat - to a Quad bike track in Valle de Bravo which is set up in a sensitive swamp and Axolotl breeding grounds). As people migrate on weekends or holidays to escape the city, they forget that the wider environment is not a playground, or a theme park. These are not innocent acts, but seriously detrimental. It is a real living complex ecosystem that is functioning around them. I don't blame the people who set up their businesses who are develop opportunities to make money to feed their families - but there needs to be more awareness and sensitivity to other species who share the space. Moreover as Alejandro says "it is easy to say something is eco-tourism, when it's not". The places need to be protected, period, or at least some kind of restrictions enforced. I feel this is mirrored in Xochimilco. Although football pitches and irregular housing development is technically banned - they still keep popping up.
Alejandro believes art can help. By advising on this poster pictured above, he is adding to the conversation and visualisation to the variety of Axolotl species in Mexico: "no-one will care about a species that no-one knows about", he tells me. As the Mexican Axolotl appears on the $50 peso bill, I wonder how the Ambystoma mexicanum has become more of a symbol of Mexico, rather than a seriously protected wild endangered species. Let down by failed policies, UNAM scientists and Chinamperos race to preserve what is left of Xochimilco. But Alejandro is convinced there is hope for wider species. Three other Axolotl species can regrow limbs, and hold other evolutionary tricks and hacks within their bodies (including some with brains in their hands...). But we need to act now to save what is left. "As scientists we need to write and share information for the people, not just other scientists".
Recent article to shed more light on Alejandro and his team's research: Geography is more important than life history in the recent diversification of the tiger salamander complex
Thank you to Alejandro for his time and generosity of information. This project is sponsored by Creature Conserve to connect artists and scientists, and I very much valued the opportunity to meet Alejandro, even via Zoom.
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