An axolotl boom is seeing thousands of the smiling amphibians accumulating at New Zealand’s pet shelters, with some blaming their newfound popularity on Minecraft, TikTok and other online games.
Amelia Seales, who runs an amphibian, reptile and animal rescue in Dunedin, said she now had 2,000 axolotls in her care, after 600 of the creatures had arrived last week. “So if anyone is looking for an axolotl, feel free to send them my way,” she said.
