10-Year-old girl finds critically endangered axolotl under welsh bridge, prompting family rescue
Bridgend, Wales: A family vacation took an unexpected turn when a 10-year-old girl discovered a critically endangered axolotl under a bridge in South Wales, leading the family to cut their trip short to rescue the rare salamander.
Melanie Hill and her family were traveling around South Wales in their camper van on April 10 when her daughter Evie was playing by the River Ogmore in Bridgend. While lifting a discarded mat in the river, the nature-loving youngster spotted a nine-inch pale salamander nestled in the rocks.
Evie immediately identified it as an axolotl from watching videos about them on YouTube. She ran to tell her mother, who was skeptical. “I told her it was probably a newt or lizard,” Hill told SWNS news agency. “But she was about to make me eat my words — because now I have one in my kitchen.”
The girl recognized it by its unique gills. “I ran up to my mum shouting ‘I’ve found an axolotl’ — but she did not believe me at all,” Evie said. After being told not to go back in the water, she returned to the bank, spotted it again, and caught it with her hands.
She carried the amphibian back to the camper and said, “Sorry I broke the rules, but look, I’ve caught the axolotl.”“I really couldn’t believe it,” her mom said, adding that she grabbed her sister-in-law’s gravy boat so Evie could safely hold it.
The family ended their vacation early to research and care for the critically endangered species, which is native to Mexico and rarely found in the wild.
