Considering a Butterfly Release?
There's No Need to Release Butterflies -- They're
Already Free
by Jeffrey Glassberg
(president of
NABA);
Paul Opler
(author of
Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Butterflies);
Robert M. Pyle
(author of
Audubon Society Field Guide to Butterflies);
Robert Robbins (curator of Lepidoptera, Smithsonian
Institution) and
James Tuttle
(president, (Lepidopterists' Society) Reprinted with
permission.
Most fifth graders can tell you how the magnificent
Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles every
autumn from the United States and Canada to a few
small mountain tops in Mexico. There they find the
right environmental conditions that allow them to
survive the winter. With the advent of spring, they
begin their return journey. This migratory
phenomenon is truly a wonder of nature that sparks
the imagination.
Now imagine tens of thousands of mixed-up Monarchs
unable to find the way to their overwintering
grounds. This depressing image may become a reality
if the rapidly-growing fad of releasing butterflies,
including Monarch butterflies, at weddings, state
fairs, and other public events continues to spread.
Because the released Monarchs may have come from
California, for instance, where they do not migrate
to Mexico, their offspring may not be able to orient
properly,. Because the Monarchs were raised inside
under unnatural conditions, it is possible that
their delicate migratory physiology may not have
been turned on.
Public interest in butterflies is increasing
dramatically. We hope and expect this greater
involvement with butterflies will eventually lead to
much-needed support for butterfly conservation and
studies, but the release of live butterflies is the
dark side of this increase in popularity. Although
this practice is understandable to naive
newlyweds-to-be (what could be more beautiful than
adding butterflies to the environment?) it is really
a particularly long-lasting form of environmental
pollution.
Butterflies raised by unregulated commercial
interests may spread diseases and parasites to wild
populations, with devastating results. Often,
butterflies are released great distances from their
points of origin, resulting in inappropriate genetic
mixing of different populations when the same
species is locally present. When it is not, a
non-native species is being introduced in the area
of release. At best, this confuses studies of
butterfly distribution and migration; at worst, it
may result in deleterious changes to the local
ecology. The Hollywood Jurassic park message, "Don't
fool with Mother Nature," has scientific
foundations. Recently a high profile report in
Science magazine found that even the careful
introduction of species for biological control often
causes unexpected negative results.
In addition, these releases create a commercial
market for live butterflies (currently about
$10/apiece), with the result that, for example, the
Monarch overwintering sites in Mexico and on the
California coast are now targets for poachers.
Currently, the interstate shipment of live
butterflies requires a permit from the U.S.
Department of Agriculture but this law is not
usually enforced. In general, the Dept. of
Agriculture may issue a permit for shipping any of
the following species: Monarch, Painted Lady,
American Lady, Red Admiral, Giant Swallowtail, Gulf
Fritillary, Zebra (Heliconian), and Mourning Cloak.
Shipping Red Admirals, Giant Swallowtails, Gulf
Fritillaries and Zebra (Heliconians) is particularly
inappropriate because they are not naturally found
over much of the United States.
A
solution that better serves the public interest with
less regulatory burden is to ban the environmental
release of commercially-obtained butterflies (we
would exempt education institutions, although even
here we would encourage schools to keep
commercially-obtained butterflies within the
confines of the school). The intentional release of
native birds was outlawed in 1947. The time has come
to do the same with butterflies.
In addition to the above, many wedding planners now
avoid butterflies at weddings because they not
infrequently arrive dead, or half-dead. (See the
recent article in the New York Times "Festive
Release of Butterflies Puts Trouble in the Air" on
page F4 of the Sept. 15, 1998 edition). Even if
alive, they often will soon die because they are
released at the wrong time of year, or at the wrong
locality to survive.
A
truly beautiful and environmentally friendly way to
celebrate a wedding is to throw rose petals. You can
even use outdated roses from your florist.
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