Japanese are eating IRL Mudkips

Day 647, 02:54 • Published in USA Canada • by Emperor Rick

I normally don't write about subjects that involve IRL things. But since our beloved mudkip internet meme does have relevance with this story i feel obliged to write this article after reading about a recent trend in Japan...





Axolotl - a critically endangered spieces. The creatures became popular childhood pets in one of Japan’s short-lived marketing booms in the 1980s, after a TV commercial for the still extant “UFO” brand of yakisoba ramen featured one of the animals; the name was soon popularly altered from “Axolotl” to ウーパールーパー / Uupaaruupaa after the advert: The popularity continued to recent times, influencing Pokemon to image the fictional Mudkip after the Axolotl.



Conservation status


The Axolotl is only native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in central Mexico. Unfortunately for the axolotl, Lake Chalco no longer exists as it was drained by humans to avoid periodic flooding, and Lake Xochimilco remains a diminished glimpse of its former self, existing mainly as canals. The wild population has been put under heavy pressure by the growth of Mexico City.




It seems they were a victim of their own popularity, as once the boom subsided one of the very companies supplying them had a surplus and opted to switch its marketing efforts to culinary usage; now they are considering exports to China and Korea.


However, everyone agrees that they are delicious, so such objections seem not to have much traction, at least amongst those tasting them.

Axolotls are also sold as food in Mexican markets and were a staple in the Aztec diet. They are currently listed by CITES as an endangered species and by IUCN as critically endangered in the wild, with a decreasing population.


But as popularity increases in Asia this could spell the end for the IRL mudkip.


Sources

What is a mudkip: http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mudkip_(Pok%C3%A9mon)
Why is this a meme: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Mudkip
Tell me more about this Axolotl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axolotl

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeDb0M7JS-M