TAKING FLIGHT SOON! Learn more...

The more people come to understand the fragile beauty and importance of butterflies, the more people are inspired to protect them. Here at The Toledo Zoo, we’ve made the conservation of our regional winged wonders a top priority.

male Karner blue

Due to loss of habitat, the Karner blue butterfly is listed as both state and federally endangered—it disappeared from Ohio in 1992. This disappearance is due to a confluence of events related to development in the region, including drainage of the water table and the introduction of invasive non-native species that choked off the growth of the lupines upon which the Karner blue feed. The Karner blue butterfly had been a mainstay of the Oak Openings Metropark’s ecosystem, located in western Lucas County, so The Toledo Zoo knew that a recovery plan was certainly in order.

In conjunction with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and The Nature Conservancy, the Zoo began restoring habitat at the Kitty Todd Preserve at Oak Openings. In addition the Zoo began working with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, collecting female Karner blue specimens for captive breeding.

male purplish copper Look closely, can you see the eggs on the leaves?

In 1998, The Toledo Zoo became the first institution to breed the Karner blue butterfly for reintroduction into the wild, and in 2002 the Association of Zoos and Aquariums presented the Zoo with the North American Conservation Award for the Oak Savanna Butterfly Conservation Program.

The Zoo has also bred and released hundreds of purplish copper butterflies into the Oak Openings region. The purplish copper is state endangered and has only one known habitat in western Lucas County.

male swamp metalmark

In addition, the Zoo continues to conduct research that develops and refines breeding techniques for the Mitchell’s satyr and the swamp metalmark, two critically endangered species of butterfly. By researching and determining the optimal conditions for breeding these insects in controlled environments, the Zoo plans to preserve two species that have disappeared from Ohio and whose populations are in severe decline in Michigan.

purplish copper eggs	Mitchell's satyr eggs & larvae	swamp metalmark larve

Karner blue pupae

The Toledo Zoo is proud to be a member of the Butterfly Conservation Initiative (BFCI).