Rosehill Day Nursery, Carlisle adopts endangered axolotl

Rosehill Day Nursery adopted the axolotl - which are friendly faced salamander that stay in their 'tadpole' form forever.

While we prize them for their cute smile and amazing regeneration abilities, in their native Mexico, wild axolotls are critically endangered.

Salamanders are amphibians that, like frogs, start off living in the water. They usually go through a process called metamorphosis to become adults but an axolotl will never go through this transition.

Children played with Sally before she was moved to a larger tank (Image: Supplied)

Most children at nursery might be treated to a rabbit or guinea pig but the youngsters at Rosehill have been loving their time with Sally, who was donated to the nursery earlier this month. 

Jodie Matthews, manager at the nursery, said: "We have adopted Sally from my niece and sister-in-law. She has been a family pet for several years and my niece has loved watching her grow, now my niece is older she wondered if we would like to adopt her as part of our nursery family.

"Sally has now moved into Rosehill Day Nursery to allow the children here to learn more about different animals and help to care for her. We are teaching the children all about her habitat and how she needs a very large tank to swim in and smooth rocks because her skin is very delicate.

Sally is certainly an interesting and educational addition to Rosehill (Image: Supplied)

"The children got to meet her before she moved into her large tank and were very excited to look at her features, we have been learning about how she breathes through her bright pink gills and where she comes from.

"One of the children even thought she had a crown on her head! We are aware as a nursery that axolotls are endangered in the wild and we will continue to teach our children about how to look after the environment and animals.

"The children have been creating their own pictures of her. Sally is already very popular with our children and parents and we are so happy to have Sally as part of our nursery family!"