Taiwan's world-class butterfly habitat withstands typhoon

“A recent field survey shows that the gorges of Seshe and Maolin Ecological Park in the Maolin National Scenic Area (MNSA) — the traditional winter habitat of the special migrating butterfly species — have remained mostly unscathed,” Wu Mao-sheng, director of MNSA Administration in southern Taiwan's Kaohsiung County, said.

Usually the colorful creatures begin arriving in large numbers in Maolin's valleys in November, but this year, the first flocks arrived in early October, Wu said.

“The number of wintering purple crow butterflies is expected to be impressive this year, judging from the fact that the number of those arriving in October far surpassed the figure recorded for the same period of last year,” Wu said.

About 400,000 purple butterflies were documented in the Maolin valleys last year, according to volunteers from the Taiwan Purple Crow Butterfly Ecological Preservation Association. With the drop in temperature in northern Taiwan in recent days, volunteers said they expect more butterflies will come to Maolin for wintering this year and that the number may match the previous high of 1 million.

“At most, more than 100 butterflies will flutter over one's head in five minutes,” said one volunteer from the association which collaborated with the MNSA office in conducting an in-depth location survey in October. As most butterfly flocks rest within valleys of higher altitude, tourists can only see scattered butterflies within river valleys during sunny mornings, the volunteer said.

In recent years, the MNSA Administration has regularly organized butterfly watching activities to allow more wildlife enthusiasts to admire the creature close up through guided tours. Wu said a biennial butterfly watching program is scheduled to be inaugurated on Dec. 12 and runs until March 6, 2010.

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