About the Karner Blue Butterfly
The Karner Blue is a beautiful, blue butterfly with a wing span of only about one inch. Historically found in 12 northern states and in Ontario, Canada, the Karner blue can now only be found in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, New York, and Wisconsin.
Like most endangered or threatened butterflies, the Karner blue's decline can be attributed to a loss of habitat. The larva of the Karner blue feeds exclusively on the wild lupine plant (Lupinus perennis) - without it, the young of the species cannot survive to adulthood.
Typically found in savanna and barren habitats with dry sandy soils, wild lupine is now itself a threatened species, found only in small amounts on military bases, airports, by the roadside and in some forestlands. As a result of industrial and agricultural development the habitat required by wild lupine has been nearly destroyed, and with it, the Karner blue's ability to survive.
Twenty years ago there were an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Karner blue butterflies in the Concord Pine Barrens area. By 1995, that number had plummeted to less than 50, because of the coinciding decline of wild lupine in the area. Finding a solution through collaboration
The solution, then, was clear - restore and expand wild lupine populations to support a healthy Karner Blue butterfly population. Since the spring of 2002, Roger Williams Park Zoo staff has participated in New Hampshire's ongoing habitat restoration project for the Karner blue in Concord, initiated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and New Hampshire Fish and Game (NHFG).
On May 23rd- May 24th, 2006, members of the RWPZ staff traveled to New Hampshire and met with members of the NHFG and the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) to aid in the annual Lupine planting. On July 6, 2006 Lou Perrotti, Conservation Programs Coordinator for the RWPZ, organized a team of staff from Massachusetts Franklin Park Zoo, Stone Zoo, and the Boston Museum of Science, and Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo, to travel to New Hampshire to join NHFG and RWPZ staff to aid in Lupine seed collecting, and other habitat restoration activities.
The RWPZ staff plans to get these new partner institutions in the New England area involved in growing Lupine at their facilities for the Concord Habitat Restoration effort, starting in 2007. It is this kind of support and collaborative approach that continues to prove to Federal and State wildlife agencies that partnering with zoos greatly enhances habitat and species conservation initiatives. In recent developments, the New England Conservation Collaborative was formed to explore how to make a greater impact on the region’s environment by forming new partnerships for ongoing conservation efforts. Learn more.
Contact Information: Louis Perrotti, RWPZ's Conservation Program's Coordinator
1000 Elmwood Avenue
Providence, RI 02907-3659
(401) 785-3510 ext. 335
email: lperrotti@rwpzoo.org |
Karner Blue Butterfly Eggs
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