The City of Winnipeg and Assiniboine Park Conservancy are working together to track monarch butterfly migration and protect the endangered species. On Monday, scientists with the Living Prairie Museum and Assiniboine Park Zoo placed tiny trackers on monarch butterflies as a way to document their winter journey from Manitoba to Mexico. According to the city, the tracking data will be used to determine the habitats the butterflies choose as they migrate, where and how they move, and the dangers they face on the journey. “Monarchs are an endangered species. We are working towards their recovery,” said Laura Burns, Assiniboine Park Conservancy’s conservation program manager. “Before you can protect a species or recover its populations, you need to understand things about it. So, if you don’t understand the threats or what habitat they need, what they use to get to where they need to go—you can’t protect it.” The city notes that this initiative is part of Environment and Climate Change Canada’s work to tag butterflies across the country. It is also Western Canada’s first tagging initiative and the first time monarch butterflies are being tracked from Manitoba. The tracking team expects the butterflies to start heading south beginning this week. Scientists will then collect data over the next few months and put together a report by this time next year. “[The tag] is actually tracking in real time,” Burns explained. “It can be detected by either special wildlife tracking antenna towers or by Bluetooth. And anyone can actually follow the migration of these monarchs on an app called ‘Project Monarch.” In total, the city and Assiniboine Park Conservancy plan to tag 30 butterflies.
