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A28 SCIENCE
Monday 18 February 2019

Locals find monarch colony in Mexico after yearslong search

By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN The reason, said Castane-
Associated Press da, is “so that we can guar-
AMANALCO DE BECERRA, antee lively, healthy exem-
Mexico (AP) — For years, plars that don’t have the
park rangers and conser- type of distress that in some
vationists working around given moment they might
Mexico’s Nevado de Tolu- have with the visitors during
ca volcano chased rumors the four-month hibernation
of a monarch butterfly col- season.”
ony that wintered high in a Officials also want to pro-
forest of oyamel firs in some tect the habitat where
corner of the 132,000-acre butterflies have found the
(53,419-hectare) national ideal combination of cli-
reserve. mate, fresh water and flow-
Local woodsmen would ers to spend the winter and
report seeing some of the mate.
butterflies fluttering about Without careful conserva-
and scouting teams would tion, the danger is evident.
scramble to trek into the Mexico has had success
forest. with recent efforts focused
They eventually narrowed on illegal logging in the but-
their search to a swath terflies’ habitat. But logging
of communal lands more is still visible within the park,
than 10,000 feet (3,048 me- Monarch butterflies cluster on tree branches in the Amanalco de Becerra sanctuary, on the even though officials say it
ters) above sea level on mountains near the extinct Nevado de Toluca volcano, in Mexico, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019. is carefully regulated and
the northwestern side of Associated Press mainly aimed at removing
the park, but still couldn’t government stakeholders big dip tend to be smaller, “When the population re- diseased or wind-downed
find the colony. who came to confirm the suggesting a decline in the ally grows, they’ll see mon- trees.
“It was like an urban leg- existence of the colony in number migrating from archs where they don’t see Not far from the colony,
end,” said Gloria Tavera mid-January. Canada and the United them in normal years,” Tay- dense woods now give
Alonso, a regional director Mario Castaneda Rojas, States. lor said. way to rolling meadows.
with Mexico’s agency for director of the Nevado de This winter’s population fig- On a recent afternoon the Castaneda and Hernan-
protected natural areas. Toluca reserve, said offi- ure, however, was the larg- air filled with monarchs dez, the forester, are work-
Just a few days before cials stopped in their tracks est since 2006-2007. as the midday sun sliced ing with landowners to
Christmas though, a hand- when a butterfly crossed Chip Taylor, director of through the thick forest, teach them about conser-
ful of communal landown- their path. Monarch Watch and an leading some of the but- vation and make it clear
ers were on a routine patrol “Something is happening,” ecology professor at the terflies to take flight. Oth- why protecting the butter-
of their forest when they he recalled thinking. University of Kansas, who ers lay on the ground after flies’ habitat is important.
discovered the monarchs At the end of last month, runs a monarch tagging reaching the end of their They also plan to form a
on a steep mountainside Mexican officials an- program, said that estab- life cycle. community surveillance
bisected by a dirt track far nounced that the overall lished colonies normally While some colonies are brigade that will be paid
from the volcano’s iconic population of monarch have butterflies. But he open to the public, govern- to keep a close eye on the
crater. The butterflies were butterflies wintering in cen- knew it was going to be a ment officials say the newly new colony, which they
hidden in plain sight. tral Mexico was up 144 better year when others registered colony in Neva- hope will be around for
In towering firs, they hung percent over the previous were spotted. do de Toluca won’t be. many more years. q
in massive clumps on sag- year. Researchers found
ging boughs, their brilliant the butterflies occupying Scientists fine-tune method to save rhinos
orange and black colors 15 acres (6 hectares) of
concealed by the pale pine and fir forests in the using frozen northern white
underside of their closed mountains of Michoacan
wings. Jose Luis Hernandez and Mexico states, com- rhino sperm and eggs from
a southern white rhino, a
Vazquez, a local forester, pared to only 6 acres (2
said landowners initially hectares) the winter prior. closely related sub-species.
Now they are working on
worried about announcing The monarch butterfly pop-
the find. “We didn’t make ulation, like that of other how to implant the embry-
os into a surrogate mother
a big deal,” he said. insects, fluctuates widely
Instead, he contacted depending on a variety of to bring them to term, and
once they’ve mastered
the agency for protected factors, but scientists say
natural areas and other the recoveries after each that, they can create pure-
bred northern white rhino
embryos that would be car-
ried by a southern white.
Female southern white rhino, 17-year-old Hope, is shot with As part of that work, on
tranquilizing darts, so a team of experts can harvest its eggs, at Wednesday, a team led by
a zoo park in Chorzow, Poland, Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019. Thomas Hildebrandt of the
Associated Press Leibniz Institute for Zoo and
By PETR DAVID JOSEK ther can bear calves. But Wildlife Research in Berlin
Associated Press scientists have not given up harvested egg cells from
CHORZOW, Poland (AP) — hope of saving the species a female southern white
Only two northern white from extinction. rhino, 17-year-old Hope, at
rhinos exist in the world: They succeeded last year a zoo park in the Polish city
both are female and nei- in creating hybrid embryos of Chorzow.q