A monarch butterfly named “MB26011,” one of 29 tagged with radio trackers in Winnipeg this summer, has successfully reached Mexico after a remarkable five-week journey spanning over 2,300 kilometers. Laura Burns, the conservation program manager at Assiniboine Park Zoo, expressed awe at the butterfly’s feat, highlighting the incredible nature of monarch migration.
Collaborating with Environment and Climate Change Canada researchers, Burns and her team tagged the monarchs at Living Prairie Museum in Winnipeg, marking the first tagging effort west of Ontario. The butterflies were delicately tagged with tiny radio trackers using eyelash glue before being released to begin their migration.
Tracking the butterflies’ progress through the Project Monarch app, researchers and the public have been monitoring their movements. Unfortunately, some butterflies did not make it out of Manitoba, shedding light on the various threats faced by these endangered insects. Habitat destruction, mainly caused by human activities like agriculture, has contributed to the monarch’s endangered status in Canada.
Despite the challenges, MB26011 successfully crossed into Mexico, still facing several hundred kilometers of travel to reach the oyamel fir forests. There, she will breed with other monarchs before perishing, while future generations will make the return journey to Canadian Prairies in spring. The data collected from the trackers aims to identify crucial stopover locations along the migration route for enhanced protection measures.