Butterfly Park

A Centre for Research, Training and Education

BBP is in the Northern most tip of the Mysore Elephant Reserve, between the Eastern Ghats and Western Ghats. In order to avoid unfavorable conditions during breeding season, butterflies migrate twice a year from Eastern Ghats to Western Ghats and vice versa. Hence Blue tiger, Striped tiger, Plain tiger, Common crow, Emigrants are commonly spotted during this season around Bannerughatta Biological Park. Since this habitat was favorable for butterflies, it was identified as a priority in 2001 and gave rise to India's first Butterfly Park which was established in the BBP in collaboration with the Government of India and Government of Karnataka. It was conceptualized as an integrated centre that supports conservation, education and research activities with exclusive focus on butterflies as a flagship family of invertebrate conservation.

The butterfly park has the following major components:
1. A butterfly garden, to sustain local butterfly population
2. A butterfly conservatory enclosed under a polycarbonate roof
3. A museum and an audio-visual dome
4. Research and captive breeding laboratory
5. Nursery host plants and nectar plants
6. Host plant garden, for rearing caterpillars in lab

The Butterfly Park is spread across 7.5 acres and was inaugurated in 2007. The natural vegetation of the adjoining natural park including shrubs and trees have been retained in this area. A dedicated butterfly trail of 1 km has been established from the entrance of the butterfly park, which guides visitors through the different host and nectar plant garden, which attracts local butterflies, and leads visitors to the three-domed structure consisting of a butterfly conservatory, museum, and multi-media center.
Butterfly conservatory is a closed landscaped garden under polycarbonate roof and spread over 10,500sqft, having a suitable habitat for butterflies throughout the year with both host and nectar plants. As an additional source of food, diluted honey dipped in cotton is placed on artificial flowers and ripened fruits are also provided. Approximately 10 to 15 species of butterflies and moths, which are bred and reared in-house, are released in this area for visitor viewing. The conservatory is surrounded by metal mesh supported with concrete pillars and roofed with transparent polycarbonate sheets. Inside the dome, earthen pots with small holes are placed along the roof to minimize echo to minimize the disturbance to the butterflies. Appropriate temperature and humidity is maintained to support the flora and fauna, through sprinklers, water fall and air blowers. Dedicated staff also conduct guided tours for visitors to create awareness about the resident butterflies, moths, life cycle and their host plant.

The conservatory leads to a museum that provides educative information on life evolutionary aspects, unique characters of butterfly and life cycle of locally available butterflies. Also movie about butterflies and moths is played throughout the day at Audio-visual centre in both English and the local language, Kannada.
Apart from display and awareness creation to the public about these winged jewels, an off-show research and breeding lab is established to maintain a sustainable population of butterflies, moths and other insects. Dedicated rearing rooms are present for different life stages of butterflies.
Different species of butterflies along with the necessary host plant and nectar plants are housed in this area to support breeding. The second instar larva are collected and shifted to the larval chamber where sufficient host plant leaves are provided for feeding to ensure maximum numbers survive. The pupa are shifted to a pupal chamber and necessary support is provided to ensure metamorphism and hatching success. Once the butterflies hatch from the pupa, a sustainable population is retained in the lab for breeding and the remaining are released in the conservatory for public display.
Some of the success breeding includes that of the Southern Birdwing, Blue Mormon and Bush Brown to name a few. Through public participation, we aim to create awareness about how our survival is dependant on conservation of these ecosystem engineers.

INSECTARIUM

A new initiative of displaying insects was taken up as various species of insects are found around Butterfly Park. Accordingly, 8 to 10 locally available species of insects are exhibited currently in the insectarium to create awareness and educate students and general public