For years, The Toledo Zoo has been at the forefront of butterfly conservation, helping to reintroduce endangered butterflies back into areas where they once appeared in abundance.
On Thursday, July 8 at 11:00 a.m., the Zoo’s conservation efforts will take another step forward as the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly will be released into the Meilke Road Savanna, located on N. Meilke Road in Spencer Township, OH.
Toledo Zoo staff members will be releasing the butterflies in conjunction with representatives from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This will be the fourth release site for Karner blue butterflies in Northwest Ohio and the first onto ODNR property.
The Karner blue butterfly disappeared from this region over two decades ago. In 1998, The Toledo Zoo became the first institution to breed the Karner blue butterfly for reintroduction into the wild, and since then over 5,000 Karner blues have been reintroduced into locations throughout the area. In Ohio, they have been released into the Kitty Todd Nature Preserve, the Moseley Barrens and the Oak Openings Metropark. They have also been released into the Petersburg State Game Area in Michigan.
In addition to its work with the Karner blue butterfly, the Zoo has also bred and released hundreds of purplish copper butterflies into the Oak Openings region. The purplish copper is state endangered and has only one known habitat in western Lucas County. The Zoo also continues to conduct research that develops and refines breeding techniques for the Mitchell's satyr butterfly, a critically endangered species of wetland butterfly. By researching and determining the optimal conditions for breeding these insects in controlled environments, the Zoo is working to preserve this species, which has disappeared from Ohio and whose populations are in decline in Michigan.
