Mexico City, Apr 10 (EFE).- Mexico City’s Chapultepec Zoo on Tuesday kicked off Monarch Butterfly Month to raise awareness of the impact of human activities in causing the population of the colorful insects to dwindle.
The zoo’s butterfly sanctuary – which will see the hatching of as many as 1,200 chrysalises in April – will feature activities, as well as a photographic exhibition sponsored by Mexico’s National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity.
“During their 4,200-kilometer (2,610-mile) journey, millions of butterflies pass through different ecosystems, taking pollen from one to the other,” Jorge Rickards, the head of the Mexico chapter of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), said, stressing the importance of this activity for plants and flowers across Canada, the United States and Mexico and the need for international cooperation to ensure it continues.
The monarch butterfly population continues to dwindle due to climate change, a situation evinced by a 14.77-percent decrease in the territory occupied by wintering butterflies during the 2017-2018 season compared to the prior year, according to figures released last month.