Reflections on the Monarch Butterfly Migration

It has been over 20 years since I’ve gotten on a horse, but guides at the Cerro Pelon Butterfly sanctuary recommended that a horse’s four legs were preferable to my mere two as I prepared to ascend the mountain where the butterflies wintered. I was very appreciative of the guides’ recommendation as the trail became steeper.

I had been looking forward to this trip for quite a long time after hearing descriptions from friends that had visited and viewing videos of this fantastic experience. It was in Cerro Pelon that scientists first confirmed that the butterflies that overwintered in the oyamel fir trees of the Sierra Madres had traveled from Canada. This area is part of a biosphere that is located about 100 km northwest of Mexico City. Every autumn millions of butterflies from high latitudes in North America return to the site and cluster on small branches, coloring the trees orange.

During the ascent of the mountain, I thought of the various environmental challenges the butterflies have to overcome in their journey and in their very existence as a species. Both climate change and habitat loss threaten Monarch butterflies with extinction. Increases in carbon dioxide levels may be making milkweed, the only food the butterflies will eat, too toxic for the insects to tolerate. In addition, extreme weather can affect their instincts to reproduce or migrate and hibernate. With those challenges, the question occurred to me: What would I actually see when I came to the top of the preserve where the monarchs were wintering?

I was not disappointed. After leaving my horse and climbing an additional peak, I was rewarded with a blizzard of orange and near total silence.

While they tend to move in swarms, occasionally an independent minded butterfly would come flit around me, land on a piece of foliage, and fascinate me for a period of time before continuing on its way. My family and the rest of the tour group were equally spellbound--no one said a word during the time we were engaged in this rare moment.

Both the United Nations and the government of Mexico have worked hard to preserve the integrity of this area and maintain the viability of the monarch to exist undisturbed here. But conflict exists with local landowners and forestry interests that occasionally percolate into violence and legal disputes.

But on this day, at this time, in this protected biosphere with this urban dwelling tourist, the only thing that mattered was the exquisite elegance of a gentle orange creature.

 

Author: Jared Blum