Butterflies an attraction in Keno
People in the Keno area have known for years that they have interesting butterflies living on the peaks in their area, and local collectors had already put together a butterfly display for the museum in the community. But in recent years, the community has found that news of these local treasures has spread far beyond the Yukon.
They began to notice an increasing number of visitors driving up the mining roads around Keno, and collecting butterflies on the rocky slopes above treeline. Some of the collectors were reluctant to talk about what they were up to on these trips, which made people in Keno even more concerned about what was going on in the area.
They did not know how many butterflies were being caught, and whether commercial collectors might be catching large numbers of them, enough to wipe out certain populations of butterflies. When they looked into whether it might be possible to regulate these activities, they found that there are few controls on butterfly collecting in Canada.
Scientific collectors need a permit but not amateur or commercial ones. Some of the collectors were Japanese, and there are no laws controlling exports of vertebrates from the country.
The Keno residents soon learned that the peaks above their community are one of the few places where it is relatively easy to collect northern alpine butterflies, particularly Beringian species. Beringia is the name of the vast northern region that was not covered by ice during the last Ice Age. Stretching east from Siberia all the way to the Mackenzie River, Beringia provided a refuge for many species of plants and animals, including butterflies.
The Beringian butterflies were adapted to living above treeline, and after the glaciers melted some species headed south to other alpine areas. Two species -- Eversmann's Parnassian and Astarte Fritillary -- are now found as far south as the northern Rockies as well as in Beringia.
But many of the species are found only on high mountain peaks, so getting to where they live can be a challenge for collectors. While flying to Whitehorse from Japan, renting a car, and driving to Keno is a major journey by any standard, Keno is one of the few areas where people can drive right up into the areas where the butterflies live.
The Keno residents decided that it was time to learn more about the butterflies living on the peaks above their community. With the help of money from the Northern Research Institute and the Community Development Fund, the Keno Community Club hired Sonia Stange, a Keno resident, to survey butterflies in the area.
Last summer Stange visited three different sites every week. Some of the butterflies take two years to develop and only fly every other year, so the fieldwork will continue next summer. Two of the sites are accessible by road while the other one must be reached by hiking.
The plan is to determine what kinds of butterflies live in the area, and how abundant they are. Their flight times are being studied, as well as the plants on which they feed. Plots have been set up so that changes in the abundance of the butterflies over time can be monitored.
Mark O'Donoghue, the Yukon Government's regional biologist for the Northern Tutchone area, is working with Stange on the project, along with two experts on northern butterflies. O'Donoghue says they want to determine whether there are lots of butterflies on the less accessible peak where visitors are less likely to go. If so, there will be less of a concern about the impact of butterfly collecting on local populations.
"We want to see whether this is a biological issue, and whether commercial collecting could knock them out," says O'Donoghue. He says that this project has been very interesting for him as it has given him a glimpse into the world of butterfly collecting. He has found that butterfly collecting and viewing is a rapidly growing hobby, and that word spreads quickly on where to go.
"Collectors are a tight knit group so everyone knows where the interesting species are," he says. "There are people who support their travels with collecting."
O'Donoghue says that the Japanese collectors are particularly interested in the Eversmann's Parnassian butterfly, a gold and white member of the swallowtail family that has orange spots in its wings. It is also found along the Dempster Highway, as are many of the other Beringian species.
Once all of the information has been collected, the community can decide whether it wants to develop a Butterfly Management Plan for the area. It would be part of the Integrated Wildlife Management Plan for the Nacho Nyak Dun Traditional Territory, on which the Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation, the Mayo Renewable Resources Council, and the Yukon government all collaborate.
Keno will also have to decide whether it wants to promote this local resource, and add butterfly-viewing on Keno Hill to the Yukon's list of tourist attractions.
For more information on this project, contact Mark O'Donoghue in Mayo at (867) 996-2162.
