When a butterfly park’s wings are clipped

Asia’s largest butterfly park, the Tropical Butterfly Conservatory in Trichy (TBCT), now lies in ruins. It urgently needs govt intervention to restore some of its critical amenities including an indoor conservatory and research lab which have fallen into disrepair.

Inaugurated in 2015 by chief minister

J Jayalalithaa, the conservatory, home to 129 species, spans 27 acres within the Upper Anicut Reserve forest at Melur in Srirangam. It was created to highlight the ecological importance of butterflies as pollinators, biological indicators sensitive to climate change and key components of the food chain.

Srirangam was chosen for its strategic location at the confluence of the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers, where the flowing waters help maintain optimal temperature and humidity conditions, attracting birds and butterflies. As ectothermic insects, butterflies cannot generate heat and energy and need moderate temperatures and relative humidity to survive.

Over the past nine years, junior fellowship research scholars have identified 129 scheduled and non-scheduled butterfly species here, with the last discovery being the ‘Indian Dartlet Butterfly’ in 2022.

But as the conservatory marks nine years of hosting scholars and visitors with its varied species, staffers say it is a struggle to support the butterfly population and research activities.

“As a result of scanty rainfall in 2022-23, temperatures in the area have risen to levels intolerable for butterflies,” says V Muthukrishnan, a former research scholar at the conservatory. “This year’s excessive and untimely rain in Kanyakumari also affected the migration of more than 40,000 butterflies to the wildlife sanctuary there.”

Several amenities such as the indoor conservatory, amphitheatre, interpretation centre and solar panels are outdated or non-functional. The breeding lab for butterfly research too needs a revamp. Researchers also say the airconditioning in the indoor conservatory, meant to maintain temperatures of 25 degrees Celsius to preserve nectar plants and other rare species, doesn’t work anymore due to lack of maintenance.

“Maintaining a balance of host and nectar plants is necessary to keep butterflies in the area,” says A Pavendhan, president of the Tamil Nadu Nature and Butterfly Society in Coimbatore. “Without these plants, butterflies will leave; they cannot be confined to one location.” Trichy forest department has submitted an annual planning report to govt, seeking approval for renovating the park. The estimated cost for renovating some of the defunct facilities and other maintenance work is `3 crore. According to sources, the park has not received any funding for the past two years and the department has sustained operations using visitors’ entry fees, which is `20 a ticket. The conservatory gets about 400 people on weekdays and triple that on weekends.

S Krithiga, Trichy’s district forest officer is optimistic. “Funds are expected to be allocated for the butterfly park this year,” says district forest officer (DFO), Trichy, S Krithiga. “We are planning to introduce additional features, including a 5D amphitheatre,” she says.

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