Mexico City lake resources are depleting, and the result is not pretty for a not so pretty animal. The wild axolotl is facing extinction as a result of environmental destruction.

Associated Press reports that the axolotl, Mexico's own "water monster," is disappearing from the Xochimilco lakes and canals. The water network was once considered earth's "floating gardens" but is now suffering from relentless urban sprawl and pollution.

As a result, the "Mexican walking fish" is now "in serious risk of disappearing," Armando Tovar Garza, a biologist for Mexico's National Autonomous University, said.

The axolotl is identifiable by its long, slimy body, thick tail, protruding gills and suspicious smile. The salamander-like creature is hard to miss, but when researchers tried to capture axolotls last year, they came up empty-handed. Despite searching in shallow waters, Garza said the efforts ended with "four months of sampling -- zero axolotls."

Much of the water monster's habitat been destroyed to create shantytowns. These towns create unmanaged sewage that leaks into what little habitat remains.

The wild axolotl's population has been shrinking dramatically since at least 1998. That year, The Mexican Academy of Sciences reported an average of 6,000 axolotls per square kilometer. That number shrunk to 1,000 in 2003 and a dangerous 100 by 2008.

Still, researchers are not giving up hope. Over the last few years, scientists have built what they call "shelters" for the axolotl. In February, scientists will start a hunt for the water monster that will last three months.

"[The search] on almost all the canals have to be repeated because now we are in the cold season, with lower temperatures, and that is when we ought to have more success with the axolotls because it is when they breed," Garza said.

Besides human pollution, another threat to the axolotl is carp and tilapia that are not native to the Xochimilco waters. They were brought to the waters years ago and now dip into the axolotl's food supply.

Axolotls can reach up to one foot (30 centimeters) in length. They feast on small fish, crustaceans and insects. Axolotls get around by either walking with their four legs or swimming with their tails. Their average wild life span is 10-15 years.

Xochimilco's lakes and canals lay upon reed mats that ancient Aztecs built for crops.