Work saving endangered butterfly earns Assiniboine Park Conservancy conservation award
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $205*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/10/2025 (296 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Assiniboine Park Conservancy’s groundbreaking work to save a critically endangered butterfly has earned it a joint conservation award with two other North American zoos.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recognized Assiniboine Park Zoo, Minnesota Zoo and John Ball Zoo with the 2025 North American Conservation Award for their collaboration, perseverance, innovation and cross-border co-operation to revive the dwindling population of the Poweshiek skipperling butterfly.
Through the Poweshiek Skipperling International Partnership, the three organizations worked together to save the species from extinction by successfully establishing captive breeding programs in the co-ordinated cross-border recovery efforts.
Assiniboine Park Conservancy photos
Members of Assiniboine Park’s conservation and research team
Conservation scientists developed advanced rearing and reintroduction techniques and conducted cutting-edge field research and genome sequencing to ensure the species isn’t lost forever.
At the Assiniboine Park Zoo, scientists led a breeding and release program focused on increasing the wild population by rearing butterflies through their most vulnerable life stages before releasing them into the wild.
Working in tandem, Nature Conservancy of Canada and Assiniboine Park are working to restore wild populations by protecting the specialized grassland habitat the species needs to survive and thrive.
For the eighth consecutive year, this summer 175 adult butterflies were released into the Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve, the last place the species is found in the country.
The 2025 tally now brings the zoo’s cumulative release total to 719 butterflies.
The Poweshiek skipperling’s is one of the world’s most endangered butterflies,
During the same time period, more than 700 eggs were collected to be held in a climate-controlled freezer over winter in preparation for next summer’s release.
“This award is a meaningful recognition of years of dedication and hard-won successes, achieved despite significant challenges. It’s also a clear reminder that continued investment on both sides of the border is essential to prevent the extinction of this precious species,” said Stephen Petersen, director of conservation and research at Assiniboine Park Conservancy.
One of the world’s most endangered butterflies, the Poweshiek skipperling’s population plummeted in the past two decades, owing to a combination of factors, including pesticide use, habitat loss and fragmentation, extreme weather and climate change.
The declining numbers of the previously abundant species, native to the tallgrass prairies of Canada and central United States, was first documented in the 1990s.
av.kitching@reepress.mb.ca
Assiniboine Park Conservancy
Poweshiek skipperling eggs on prairie dropseed grass
Assiniboine Park Conservancy
A released Poweshiek skipperling on a black-eyed Susan
AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV.
Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV.
Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
