Chester Zoo help bring rare ‘tequila fish’ back from extinction and reintroduce it into the wild

A Mexican fish species has been brought back from extinction and reintroduced into the wild by conservationists at Chester Zoo.

The tequila splitfin – nicknamed the tequila fish – disappeared from the wild completely in 2003 as a result of pollution and the introduction of invasive, exotic fish species in waters where it had previously thrived.

But now, more than 1,500 of the fish have been returned to their natural habitat in the Teuchitlan River in south-west Mexico thanks to conservationists from Chester Zoo and the Michoacana University of Mexico.

The groundbreaking project began back in 1998 when Chester Zoo gave the university five pairs of the fish.

Chester Zoo

A new colony of fish was then founded and, for the last fifteen years, conservationists have been maintaining and expanded the fish population, until forty pairs were released into artificial ponds at the university.

And, after four years, there were an estimated 10,000 fish in the semi-natural environment, eventually making the colony the primary source for reintroduction into the wild.

Chester Zoo’s curator of lower vertebrates and invertebrates Dr Gerardo Garcia said: “It is a real privilege to have helped save this charismatic little fish and it just goes to show that with the skill and expertise of conservationists, and with local communities fully invested in a reintroduction project, species can make a comeback from environments where they were once lost.

“This is also a great example of how good zoos can play a pivotal role in species conservation.

“Not only has Chester Zoo been involved technically and financially, the breeders, which became the founding population for the reintroduction of the tequila splitfin, originated at Chester Zoo.

Chester Zoo

“Without the zoo population keeping the species alive for many years, this fish would have been lost forever. It’s humbling to think that a small population, being cared for by aquarists in Chester, has now led to their revival in the wild.”

Professor Omar Dominguez from the Michoacana University added that reinstating the fish in the wild offers a wider positive impact, noting: “Not only has the fish itself been saved, but the environment it lives in has been restored.”