内容摘要：ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An iconic reindeer so beloved that he has been in parades, featured on reality TV shows and visited by schoolchildren on field trips in

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An iconic reindeer so beloved that he has been in parades, featured on reality TV shows and visited by schoolchildren on field trips in

“Just imagine the bottom of a canal in areas like Xochimilco, Tlahuac, Chalco, where there’s an enormous quantity of microbes,” Vergara said.Under ideal conditions, an axolotl could heal itself from snake or heron biting and survive the dry season buried in the mud. But a proper aquatic environment is needed for that to happen.

“Efforts to preserve axolotl go hand in hand with preserving the chinampas,” Cruz said at the museum, next to a display featuring salamander-shaped dolls. “We work closely with the community to convince them that this is an important space.”Ancestral floating gardens are visible next to new soccer fields on Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)Ancestral floating gardens are visible next to new soccer fields on Xochimilco Lake in Mexico City, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Felix Marquez, File)

Chinampas are not only where axolotl lay its eggs, but areas where pre-Hispanic communities grew maize, chili, beans and zucchini, and some of Xochimilco’s current population grow vegetables despite environmental threats.“Many chinampas are dry and don’t produce food anymore,” Cruz said. “And where some chinampas used to be, one can now see soccer camps.”

For her, like for Vergara, preserving axolotl is not an end, but a means for saving the place where the amphibian came to be.

“This great system (chinampas) is all that’s left from the lake city of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, so I always tell our visitors that Xochimilco is a living archeological zone,” Cruz said. “If we, as citizens, don’t take care of what’s ours, it will be lost.”“I grow with each play,” Castillo said. “I feel prouder of my roots, knowing that I can move away from stereotypes like playing a prostitute or a witch. That I, too, can be a queen.”

Mulato Teatro cast members from left to right, Caro Rodríguez, Aldo Martin; Jesús Peredo; Annya Atanasio Cadena and Eréndira Castorela, rehearse for their upcoming performance in the First International Afro-Scenic Festival, in Ticumán, Mexico, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)Mulato Teatro cast members from left to right, Caro Rodríguez, Aldo Martin; Jesús Peredo; Annya Atanasio Cadena and Eréndira Castorela, rehearse for their upcoming performance in the First International Afro-Scenic Festival, in Ticumán, Mexico, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)

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