Conservationists Want Protection for Foreign Butterflies

PORTLAND, Oregon, May 17, 2004 (ENS) - Two conservation groups filed suit last week in federal district court in Portland to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect seven swallowtail butterfly species as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

Protection of these butterflies under the act will put in place regulations that will not allow the import of specimens into the United States.

Conservationists also hope listing would help spread awareness about the plight of these butterflies and lead to conservation activities within their home countries.

"We must intensify the efforts to protect these magnificent butterfly species," said Peter Galvin, conservation director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which filed the suit along with the Xerces Society. "They are rare treasures of the world."

The Center has being trying to get protection for the butterflies since early 1994, when it filed a petition for Endangered Species Act listing with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

In May 1994 the federal wildlife agency made its 90 day finding and said the petition to list the seven species under the Endangered Species Act "has presented substantial information indicating that the action may be warranted."

"A status review of these butterflies, together with 20 others that may be of similar concern, is initiated," the agency said.

But the Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to initiate the process, says Scott Hoffman Black, executive director of the Xerces Society.

"It has been more than a decade since the petition was filed on these species and no action has been taken," Black said.

The Harris' Mimic Swallowtail known only from the coast around Rio de Janiero, is in danger of extinction. (Photo credit unknown)

Habitat loss - primarily from development - and overcollection are the major threats to the other six species, which are respectively found in Brazil, Jamaica, Indonesia, Mexico and Nepal.

The Fluminense Swallowtail, Parides ascanius, is jeopardized by the drainage and development of its subcoastal swamp habitat near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Hahnel’s Amazonian Swallowtail, Parides hahneli, is restricted to a few areas of sandy riverbank along tributaries of the Amazon in central Brazil and may be threatened by over collection.

The Jamaican kite, Eurytides marcellinus, is threatened with extinction due to its limited range, restricted distribution of its food plant, and intense agricultural development near Kingston, Jamaica.

Southern tailed birdwing, Troides [Ornithoptera] meridionalis, is endangered by the logging of its natural habitat and the uncontrolled development of plantations in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

Oaxacan Swallowtail, Papilio esperanza, is one of Mexico’s rarest butterflies. It is known only from one site in the cloud forest of Oaxaca, Mexico, and is vulnerable to over collection.

The Kaiser-I-Hind, Teinopalpus imperialis imperatrix, is a very rare, stunning swallowtail known from Nepal to southern Myanmar. It is threatened by over collecting and rapid destruction of the high elevation forests upon which it depends.