Oregon Zoo Releases Hundreds of Endangered Butterflies Into The Wild

Portland, March 19th, 2015. For hundreds of endangered butterflies raised at the Oregon Zoo during the past year, naptime is over. In an effort to to reestablish dwindling checkerspot populations in central Washington, in February, zoo conservationists roused more than 500 Taylor’s checkerspot larvae from their winter dormancy, transferring these very hungry caterpillars into rearing cups at the zoo’s Imperiled Butterfly Conservation Lab, where they munched on narrowleaf plantain following a 7-month snooze. 

Last week, zoo staffers joined biologists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to release the growing caterpillars on prairies in central Washington, where some of the region’s best checkerspot habitat remains.

“Releasing caterpillars reared at the zoo is part of our ongoing effort to reestablish this imperiled species at sites where it was once abundant,” explained Mary Linders, a species recovery biologist with WDFW. “Without large, connected populations, the butterflies struggle to survive.”

The zoo-reared caterpillars will complete their development in the wild, first turning into chrysalides and then emerging as adult butterflies, helping to stabilize declining populations of this species.

Though once abundant across the inland prairies of the Pacific Northwest, the Taylor’s checkerspot has now lost 99 percent of its grassland habitat to agriculture and urban development. The species is listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and, according to Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, is in imminent danger of extinction.

The Oregon Zoo has raised nearly 19,000 checkerspots for release since joining the recovery effort in 2004. After more than a decade of working to increase the endangered butterfly’s numbers, Linders says the effects are becoming noticeable.

“We’ve started seeing Taylor’s checkerspots at locations where they haven’t been documented in years,” Linders said. “It gives us hope for a species that is very close to disappearing completely.”

Committed to butterfly conservation, the Oregon Zoo is a charter member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Butterfly Conservation Initiative, a collaborative effort among nearly 50 zoos and aquariums. The zoo works in partnership with and receives funding from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Joint Base Lewis-McChord and its Army Compatible Use Buffer program to rear checkerspots and release them into the wild. Additional project partners include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Xerces Society and the Sustainability in Prisons Project administered through The Evergreen State College and Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women.

To learn more about the Oregon Zoo’s effort to save Taylor’s checkerspots and other imperiled Northwest species, visit www.oregonzoo.org/conserve/species-recovery-and-conservation. 

The zoo is a service of Metro and is dedicated to its mission of inspiring the community to create a better future for wildlife. Committed to conservation, the zoo is also working to save endangered California condors, Oregon silverspot butterflies, western pond turtles and Oregon spotted frogs. Other projects include studies on Asian elephants, polar bears, orangutans and giant pandas. 

Support from the Oregon Zoo Foundation enhances and expands the zoo’s efforts in conservation, education and animal welfare. Members, donors and corporate and foundation partners help the zoo make a difference across the region and around the world. 

The zoo opens at 9 a.m. daily and is located five minutes from downtown Portland, just off Highway 26. The zoo is also accessible by MAX light rail line. Visitors who travel to the zoo via MAX receive $1.50 off zoo admission. Call TriMet Customer Service, 503-238-RIDE (7433), or visit www.trimet.org for fare and route information.

General zoo admission is $11.50 (ages 12-64), $10 for seniors (65 and up), $8.50 for children (ages 3-11) and free for those 2 and younger. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561.