Nearly 200 endangered butterflies raised in Manitoba returned to wild

Poweshiek skipperling. (Source: David Pavlik)

An ongoing program to help rehabilitate the butterfly population in Manitoba is celebrating a successful release this year.

The Assiniboine Park Conservancy and the Nature Conservancy of Canada recently released 175 endangered adult Poweshiek skipperling butterflies to the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve in the RM of Stuartburn. In the past eight years, there have been 719 butterflies returned to the wild.

“We are very excited and motivated by the success achieved this year in all parts of the program,” said Kirstyn Eckhardt, conservation programs manager with Assiniboine Park Conservancy, in a statement. “The results are encouraging and a testament to many years of work, research and collaborative effort.”

The Poweshiek skipperling was once plentiful across the prairies, the Assiniboine Park Conservancy said, but its population declined during the 1990s and 2000s due to pesticide use, habitat loss, extreme weather events and climate change.

The conservancy has also collected over 1,500 eggs that will be hatched and cared for at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in an incubator when they become caterpillars.