Ever wonder how a team of biologists help a population of butterflies recover from near extinction? No? Well, now you have! The Wildlife Preservation Canada team at the Greater Vancouver Zoo has been helping the Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly populations, among many other species, recover and expand the areas they live in. Taylor’s Checkerspot butterflies were found in only one location in Canada and, thanks to the work of the WPC team, have expanded to new locations over the last 2 years.
These butterflies are at risk because of their very niche living conditions. They thrive in the grassy meadows that follow forest fires and, unfortunately, those meadows are becoming increasingly difficult to find and sustain. In order to create more space for these butterflies to thrive, WPC has worked hard with the communities of key areas to maintain healthy and ideal habitats for the butterflies to live in.
Every year the WPC team works to breed the butterflies and release some of the larva (caterpillars) into these appropriate habitats to help bolster their wild numbers. That includes feeding, sheltering, and playing matchmaker for the butterflies. When the time is right, the majority of the caterpillars and butterflies are released to continue their work in the wild. That is, until this year.
For 2025, there will not be a butterfly release. In 2024 WPC was unable to collect enough wild adults to ensure that we could maintain a healthy and genetically diverse captive population to continue breeding. With that information, the decision was made to release all of the individuals we had been working with to provide the maximum benefit possible to the wild populations.
The journey continues for the WPC team though as later in the season, after the wild eggs had hatched, the team was able to recover 100 wild larvae that will serve as a restart to the captive breeding population. The caterpillars tend to awaken from hibernation around March (yes, they sleep the whole winter!) and will quickly begin their metamorphosis into adult butterflies to provide the spark for the next generation.
Over the last 5 years of work the WPC team has released more than 9000 larvae into the Hornby Island population and plan to release 3000 to 6000 caterpillars per year into the future. If you want to help the butterflies that live in your own backyard, consider:
Limiting the use of chemical pesticides when doing yard work
Staying on the path at provincial parks and campgrounds so the local plants have the space to grow and help species like butterflies prosper
Planting local pollinating species in your gardens and yards
Volunteering with local conservation groups!
For more information and the latest updates on the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterflies, follow along with the passionate teams at the GVZoo and WPC.
