Mobile Menu

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Alberta
        • Yukon
      • U.S.A.
        • Alaska
        • Washington
        • Oregon
        • California
    • Adventure
      • Hiking
      • Camping
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Skiing
      • Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Adrenaline
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
  • Share Your Experience
    • Join Our Team
    • Contests
      • Okanagan Summer Getaway
      • Win Round Trip Flights
      • 10 Adventures Contest
      • Winter Road Trip With RVezy
      • Paddle Tour 2021
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
  • Nature & Wildlife
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
  • About
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

West Coast Traveller

  • Destinations
    • Canada
      • British Columbia
      • Alberta
      • Yukon
    • U.S.A.
      • Alaska
      • Washington
      • Oregon
      • California
    • Indigenous Tourism
    • West Coast Galleries
  • Things To Do
    • Staycation Secrets
      • Canada
        • Vancouver Island, B.C.
        • Okanagan
        • Lower Mainland, B.C.
        • Northern B.C.
        • Interior B.C.
        • Alberta
        • Yukon
      • U.S.A.
        • Alaska
        • Washington
        • Oregon
        • California
    • Adventure
      • Hiking
      • Camping
      • Beaches
      • Biking
      • Skiing
      • Fishing
      • Rafting
      • Adrenaline
    • Sip & Savour
    • Family Activities
  • Share Your Experience
    • Join Our Team
    • Contests
      • Okanagan Summer Getaway
      • Win Round Trip Flights
      • 10 Adventures Contest
      • Winter Road Trip With RVezy
      • Paddle Tour 2021
    • The Armchair Traveller Newsletter
  • Nature & Wildlife
    • Nature Photography
    • Wildlife Photography
  • About
    • Impressive West Coast
    • West Coast Partners
    • Contact Us
  • Search
You are here: Home / Travel / Bringing butterflies back from the brink in Helliwell Park

The colourful Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly has been reintroduced on Hornby Island, BC. Photo courtesy the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project.

Bringing butterflies back from the brink in Helliwell Park

June 9, 2020 //  by Black Press Media Staff

Share this:

A colourful butterfly species once believed extinct from northern Vancouver Island is now re-establishing its presence, thanks to a captive breeding program and efforts to restore its habitat.

Taylor’s Checkerspot butterflies vanished from Hornby Island in the mid-1990s. At the time, lepidopterists thought they were the last Canadian population, and with few locations south of the border, the species’ extinction seemed imminent.

However, new Taylor’s Checkerspot populations were discovered on Denman Island in 2005 and near Campbell River in 2018.

This spring, larvae raised at the Greater Vancouver Zoo were released in Helliwell Provincial Park on Hornby Island and in May, biologists confirmed that at least 25 of the caterpillars survived to become adult butterflies, and many more may have gone unseen. It’s a hopeful sign that the co-operative efforts to re-establish a population of the endangered butterflies on Hornby Island are paying off.

“It’s wonderful to finally see the butterflies in Helliwell again after working so long to achieve this goal,” says Jennifer Heron, Chair of the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project Team and invertebrate conservation specialist for the BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy.

Planning for the species’ recovery began in 2005, with years spent preparing the area with BC Parks staff, contractors and local volunteers. Trees and invasive plants were replaced with thousands of native plants and seeds to restore the open coastal bluff meadow habitat that the butterflies and many other species require.

More work remains to be done – and you can help

“The butterflies aren’t out of the woods yet. They need to find food plants and mates, produce eggs, transition through more development stages, and then survive winter as diapause larvae,” Heron says. “It may be necessary to continue with habitat restoration and releases of captive reared butterflies for at least a few more years. “It takes a lot of cooperation to bring butterflies back from the brink of extinction.”

You’re urged to report Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly sightings to Taylors.Checkerspot@gov.bc.ca, or by using the free iNaturalist app – an easy-to-use species identification tool that lets citizen scientists record and contribute important species data for projects around the globe.

You can also assist by staying on marked meadow trails in Helliwell Park that are delineated by ropes and restoration area signs. Trampling by people and their pets is one of the greatest threats to the butterflies and their food plants. Dogs must be on a leash according to provincial park regulations.

Did you know?

  • Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly (Euphydryas editha taylori) is also known as Edith’s Checkerspot.
  • Its historical range was Hornby Island, southeastern Vancouver Island, Puget Trough and to the Willamette Valley in Oregon. In BC, they were once abundant at sites in Greater Victoria, Mill Bay, Comox and on Hornby Island, including Helliwell Provincial Park).
  • Taylor’s Checkerspot is federally listed as Endangered, and is on the BC Red list of at-risk species.
  • The butterflies need open, sunny meadows where they can find suitable host plants (food for larvae and nectar-producing flowers for adults), such as Woolly Sunflower, Common Camas, Small-flowered Blue-eyed Mary, Wild Strawberry, Sea Blush and Yarrow.
  • Habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation are major factors in the species’ decline. For example, the meadows along the coastal bluffs in Helliwell Provincial Park became less suitable for butterflies due to invasions of non-native plants and encroaching forests.
  • Habitat enhancement work has been ongoing in the park for several years.

The Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Recovery Project is an initiative of the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team’s Invertebrates at Risk Recovery Implementation Group. The collaborative effort to restore Taylor’s Checkerspot populations includes representatives from BC Parks, Denman Conservancy Association, Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team, Greater Vancouver Zoo, Mosaic Forests, Wildlife Preservation Canada and others Helliwell Park neighbours in High Salal Ranch Strata, volunteers, Conservancy Hornby Island, the Hornby Island Natural History Centre, and Hornby Island Provincial Parks Committee.

Share this:

Category: TravelTag: British Columbia Destinations, Canada, Comox Valley, Parks, Things to Do in Vancouver, Wildlife

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Back by popular demand: Victoria foodies get another chance to Dine Around

It’s the news local foodies have been hungering for: Destination Greater Victoria and the BC…

Back by popular demand: Victoria foodies get another chance to Dine AroundRead More

Brant Wildlife Festival wings its way to local beaches, marshes, backyards + beyond

While the distinctive black-and-white Brant geese are the “poster birds” of the annual Brant Wildlife…

Brant Wildlife Festival wings its way to local beaches, marshes, backyards + beyondRead More

WATCH: Shuswap man indulges hockey passion on – and in – an icy BC creek

Organized hockey has been off the table for months due to COVID-19, and many of…

WATCH: Shuswap man indulges hockey passion on – and in – an icy BC creekRead More

Victoria man creates livestream of hummingbird chicks to spread a bit of joy

A Victoria man has created a livestream of a hummingbird and her two chicks in…

Victoria man creates livestream of hummingbird chicks to spread a bit of joyRead More

Researchers confirm new southern resident orca calf

A healthy calf is the latest known addition to the southern resident killer whale community…

Researchers confirm new southern resident orca calfRead More

Train conductor frees bobcat stuck on a track near Trail

A little bobcat was enjoying his breakfast of duck just outside Trail, BC when below-zero…

Train conductor frees bobcat stuck on a track near TrailRead More

Honing your cross-country skills? Check out this BC ski instructor’s YouTube channel!

If you’ve looked to cross country skiing as a way to get outside and active…

Honing your cross-country skills? Check out this BC ski instructor’s YouTube channel!Read More

3 unique Comox Valley purveyors to sip and savour

Foodies have long known there was something special about the Comox Valley. They taste it…

3 unique Comox Valley purveyors to sip and savourRead More

Own downtown Chicken, Alaska for just $750,000

If you’ve ever dreamed of being a business tycoon in a wild west town, now’s…

Own downtown Chicken, Alaska for just $750,000Read More

Previous Post: « Wine tours in the Okanagan are back
Next Post: Vancouver Island grizzlies: moving in, or just passing through? »

Primary Sidebar

Things To Do

Back by popular demand: Victoria foodies get another chance to Dine Around

February 22, 2021

Brant Wildlife Festival wings its way to local beaches, marshes, backyards + beyond

February 22, 2021

WATCH: Shuswap man indulges hockey passion on – and in – an icy BC creek

February 21, 2021

Victoria man creates livestream of hummingbird chicks to spread a bit of joy

February 21, 2021

Recent Posts

Back by popular demand: Victoria foodies get another chance to Dine Around

February 22, 2021

Brant Wildlife Festival wings its way to local beaches, marshes, backyards + beyond

February 22, 2021

WATCH: Shuswap man indulges hockey passion on – and in – an icy BC creek

February 21, 2021

Victoria man creates livestream of hummingbird chicks to spread a bit of joy

February 21, 2021

Footer

The West Coast Traveller has an immense social media footprint, with eight social media sites and 100,000+ Facebook followers.

Join us on social media and Join Our Community by sharing your stuff!

Get Inspired

News Media Groups

Black Press Media
Sound Publishing
Oahu Media Group
Alaska
Boulevard Magazines
Used.ca

Let’s Get Social

West Coast Traveller
I Love British Columbia
I love Alberta
I Love Yukon
I Love Washington
I Love California
I Love Oregon
I Love Alaska

Site Footer

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2021 West Coast Traveller and · All Rights Reserved