{"id":548255,"date":"2026-04-24T12:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548255\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T12:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T12:32:10","slug":"girl-10-finds-one-of-worlds-rarest-amphibians-under-bridge-in-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/548255\/","title":{"rendered":"Girl, 10, finds one of world\u2019s rarest amphibians under bridge in Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

A 10-year-old girl stumbled across one of the world\u2019s rarest<\/a> amphibians<\/a> while playing in a Welsh<\/a> lake.<\/p>\n

Evie Hill was exploring under a bridge near the River Ogmore in Bridgend<\/a>, south Wales, when she spotted a Mexican<\/a> axolotl<\/a> \u2013 the first ever documented in the wild in Britain.<\/p>\n

There are just 1,000 of the endangered amphibians<\/a> left in the wild, and Evie\u2019s find is believed to have been released from captivity by its owner.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the BBC<\/a> about finding the nine-inch-long animal, Evie said: \u201cI went down to the bank and there was this green mat, I lifted it up and there was an axolotl there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Mexican axolotl is endangered (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Her mother Melanie said she was sceptical when Evie first told her she had found the amphibian. \u201cI thought she\u2019d seen a newt or something,\u201d she said. \u201cEvie\u2019s always finding things like this \u2014 not axolotls \u2014 but newts and bugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just a complete surprise to see that she was actually holding this axolotl. I never even knew that they could grow that big, and 1777033928 here I am with one in my kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family cut their holiday short to take the axolotl back to their home in Leicester, and said they spent hours researching how to keep it safe.<\/p>\n

Evie has now named the axolotl Dippy and said he has fascinated her classmates at school. \u201cEverybody at school is fascinated about the story of Dippy,\u201d she said. \u201cI think it\u2019s really interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Newman, director of the National Centre for Reptile Welfare, said Evie had \u201cprobably saved the axolotl\u2019s life\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the first time one has been documented in the UK, and it would not have lived very long if Evie hadn\u2019t seen it,\u201d he said. \u201cPredatory animals would have had it for lunch, and it already had bite marks on its back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Axolotls are native only to the lake complex of Xochimilco near Mexico City, and can grow up to 12 inches long.<\/p>\n

The RSPCA<\/a> said it had seen a surge in searches to buy axolotls online after the amphibians were introduced into the game Minecraft in June 2021, jumping from around 11,000 per month to 50,000 per month. <\/p>\n

Dr Ros Clubb, from the charity, previously warned they are not easy to look after and should never be \u201cimpulse bought\u201d as pets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re particularly concerned when new pet trends such as axolotls emerge as exotic pets often end up in our care later down the line when people realise they’re not easy to care for, or once the novelty wears off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying with an axolotl in Minecraft is one thing, but taking on the care of a real live axolotl is a whole different matter. These amphibians need care and attention for their entire lives, which can be 15 years – long after the kids may have flown the nest.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548256,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[90,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-548255","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-uk","10":"tag-united-kingdom","11":"tag-unitedkingdom","12":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548255\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}