Zoo Releases 850 Endangered Butterflies into Wild

Oregon Zoo butterfly conservationist Kim McEuen prepares Oregon silverspot butterfly pupae for a trip to the coast. Hundreds of zoo-reared pupae have been released there this summer in an effort to stabilize declining populations of this threatened species. Photo by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.

Conservationists prep last of summer’s silverspot pupae for release at Oregon coast

PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s summertime, and some of the Oregon Zoo’s tiniest residents are heading to the coast. Zoo conservationists are busy preparing the last of this season’s Oregon silverspot butterflies for one-way passage to either Bray Point or Rock Creek in an effort to stabilize declining populations of this threatened species.

More than 830 zoo-reared silverspots have already been released this summer, transported as pupae (cocoons) to grassy headlands and salt-spray meadows along the coast, where they can complete their transformation and join their wild counterparts. The last 18 will make the trip today, for a total of 850 released this summer.

“We’re putting more butterflies into the ecosystem in hopes that they’ll breed with wild butterflies and avoid local extinction,” said Mary Jo Andersen, the zoo’s lead butterfly keeper.

Once common along the Oregon coast, the Oregon silverspot was reduced to four Oregon populations by the 1990s. The species was listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1980 — one of two Oregon butterflies listed as threatened or endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

“They face a lot of obstacles,” Andersen said. “Development, motor vehicles, bad weather, pesticides, invasive species, natural predators like spiders.…”

In addition to releasing pupae, the Oregon Zoo raises and plants thousands of early blue violets, on which the Oregon silverspot depends, into butterfly habitat.

“When the caterpillars hatch, they’re tiny — just about the size of Abe Lincoln’s nose on a penny,” Andersen said. “But they will eat more than 300 nickel-sized violet leaves before they’re ready to pupate.”

Last summer, before the final batch of 2012 pupae were sent to their new beachfront homes, Oregon Zoo photographer Michael Durham captured what is believed to be the first time-lapse video of a silverspot caterpillar transforming into a chrysalis.

“What he captured was nothing short of magical,” Andersen said. “When a caterpillar pupates, all of its molecules literally liquefy, and it reformulates as a butterfly. Sometimes you need to have a meltdown in order to change your life.”

An adult silverspot feeds from a nectar-soaked cotton swab at the zoo’s butterfly conservation station. The zoo and its conservation partners this summer released 850 of these rare Northwest beauties at sites along the Oregon coast in an effort to stabilize the declining population. Photo by Michael Durham, courtesy of the Oregon Zoo.

The zoo works in partnership with Woodland Park Zoo, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women and the Xerces Society to develop husbandry protocols, rear butterflies and release them into the wild.

To learn more about the Oregon Zoo’s effort to save Oregon silverspots 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, Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies, western pond turtles and Oregon spotted frogs. Other projects include studies on Asian elephants, polar bears, orangutans and giant pandas. Celebrating 125 years of community support, the zoo relies in part on donations through the Oregon Zoo Foundation to undertake these and many other animal welfare, education and sustainability programs.

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; 25 cents of the admission price helps fund regional conservation projects through the zoo’s Future for Wildlife program. A parking fee of $4 per car is also required. Additional information is available at www.oregonzoo.org or by calling 503-226-1561.