How to Train Your Dragon's Toothless may be a fictional character, but one of the animals that inspired him is not: the axolotl.
One became lucky enough to find refuge with a 10-year-old girl.
According to the BBC, Evie was traveling with her family when she discovered the axolotl under the River Ogmore's Dipping Bridge in south Wales. She fittingly named it "Dippy."
With their Pokémon-esque appearance and extraordinary ability to regenerate, axolotls have captured popular imagination, appearing in video games such as Minecraft and Roblox. They've also gone viral on social media, with axolotl content on TikTok garnering billions of views.
At first, Evie's mother, Melanie, couldn't believe her eyes.
"I've been telling Evie all this time that those creatures she watches on YouTube, they're not real," she told the BBC.
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However, she quickly realized that this axolotl was not only real but also in real trouble. For one, axolotls are native to Mexico, meaning Dippy was over 5,000 miles from home.
The National Centre for Reptile Welfare's director, Chris Newman, told the BBC that Dippy was likely brought to Wales as a pet and released into the wild after the owner became unable to care for it. This is not only illegal because of the potential for economic and ecological risk, but also because it's cruel.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed axolotls as critically endangered, with habitat loss a key threat. If not for Evie's keen eyes, Dippy probably wouldn't have survived.
Axolotls do best in water temperatures of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius (approximately 61 to 64 degrees Fahrenheit), according to The Guardian.
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As Melanie shared on TikTok, where she has been documenting Dippy's recovery, the River Ogmore was freezing on the day Evie rescued Dippy, who also had tail and stomach injuries.
Evie and Melanie headed back to their Leicester home earlier than planned to care for the axolotl. They have now received legal permission to keep Dippy.
With a dragon famously being on the flag of Wales, they've also added an extra letter to the axolotl's moniker in honor of where it was found.
"We call it Dippy D. the D. being for Dragon as found in Wales- our real life Welsh dragon," Melanie wrote on TikTok.
"Dippy is a very lucky axolotl," one viewer gushed. "Quite cute as well."
"Well done Evie, and well done to you as well Melanie," another said.
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