Next Friday, November 15, the doors of the El Campanario monarch butterfly sanctuary, located in the El Rosario ejido, will open, while thousands of lepidopterans are still arriving from the surrounding mountains to form the colony where they will hibernate in the fir forests, reported Abel Cruz, member of the Tourism Committee of this town in the municipality of Ocampo, Michoacán.
The monarch butterflies, after more than 3 thousand kilometers of travel, are in the stage of relocation in the El Campanario mountain, “the information from the royal mail that follows the path of the butterflies from the United States, there is a reduction in their population and at this time they are still dispersing in other fir forests in eastern Michoacán, such as Angangueo, Tlalpujahua and Zitácuaro,” he added.
There was a bit of a delay, but since last November 9, thousands of orange and black wings with white spots began to be observed in the mountains of the municipality of Ocampo and Angangueo, particularly in the El Campanario sanctuary, “they were fluttering in Llano del Conejo and its surroundings to join the colony.
In November 2023 “the butterfly population was reduced by more than 50 percent, that is, out of 120 million insects, less than 60 million arrived,” according to estimates by institutions dedicated to the study of these migratory butterflies, which year after year arrive from the north of the continent to hibernate and reproduce.
Information from WWF Mexico, climatic variations in the breeding areas of the monarch butterfly in Canada and the United States caused high temperatures and droughts, reducing the abundance of milkweed, the only plant in which these butterflies lay their eggs. Changes in land use in the United States, combined with the widespread use of herbicides, also contributed to the loss of milkweed and other nectar plants essential to feeding adult monarch butterflies.
The El Rosario ejido is already prepared to receive thousands of national and foreign tourists. It has cabins for those who wish to stay overnight; 260 craft and food stores; and 87 horses for those who wish to climb the highest part of El Campanario Hill, where the butterflies are located, and thus avoid climbing more than 700 steps.
Abel Cruz said that for the inhabitants of that region it is very important to preserve this migratory phenomenon of the butterfly, because hundreds of families depend on the income left by visitors in just over four months, which is the duration of the presence of the butterflies that will leave as every year when spring begins.
Source: jornada
