‘Every time I look at one, I smile!’: how axolotls took over the world

Axolotls are the new llamas. Which were, of course, the new unicorns. Which triggered a moment for narwhals. If you are an unusual-looking animal, this is your time. Even humans who have never seen an axolotl – a type of salamander – in the smooth and slimy flesh will have met a cartoon or cuddly one. Mexican axolotls have the kind of look that is made for commercial reproduction. The most popular domestic species is pink. Some glow in the dark – and their smile is bigger than Walter’s in the Muppets.

At Argos or Kmart, you can buy axolotls as cuddly toys, featured on socks, hoodies and bedding, or moulded into nightlights. You can crochet an axolotl, stick a rubber one on the end of your pencil or wear them on your underpants. The Economist says they’re a “global megastar”. More than 1,000 axolotl-themed products are listed on Walmart’s website. They grace US Girl Scouts patches, McDonald’s Happy Meals, and the 50-peso bill, a design so popular that, last year, the Bank of Mexico reported that 12.9 million people were hoarding the notes.

The animal’s name – which comes from the Aztec god Xolotl – provides greetings card designers with infinite puns. Love you alotl! Thanks alotl! You can ask axolotl questions about how our infatuation came about, but you can’t deny that this beguiling salamander has captured human hearts.

“Every time I look at one, I can’t help but smile back,” says Nicole Rowe, who runs an axolotl rehoming centre from her house in the West Midlands, England, between shifts at a craft store. “You know that saying: ‘If you smile for long enough, eventually you will start to feel happier’? That’s the effect they have on me.”

View image in fullscreen ‘I love their little hands and feet’ … Nicole Rowe in her Lotl Room.