Flight to extinction: 35 butterfly species in India on the verge of disappearing

Pollination is essential to 75% of the world's agriculture, says FAO. If butterflies disappear from the planet, many plant species, from apples to coffee, unable to reproduce, will decline.

Umashankar Mishra
| Updated: August 10th, 2021

From apples to coffee, many food crops depend on butterflies for pollination.

You must have chased butterflies as a child; imagine what would happen if there were no butterflies. Healthy butterfly populations are indicators of improved environmental conditions. Butterflies play a crucial role in pollination, the food chain, and the ecosystem. 

However, pollution, pesticide use, deforestation, and climate change are proving to be a threat to the very existence of the butterflies.

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35 species of butterflies critically endangered

According to the Zoological Survey of India, there are 1,318 species of butterflies in the country, of which, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 35 species are critically endangered. 

The IUCN has classified 43 butterfly species in India as endangered, with three butterfly species classified as ‘least concern’ species. This information was recently provided by Ashwini Kumar Choubey, minister of environment, forest and climate change, in response to a question in Parliament.

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From apples to coffee, many food crops depend on butterflies for pollination. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, pollination is essential to 75 per cent of the world’s agriculture.  

If butterflies go extinct, it will have adverse consequences for many other organisms that feed on the larvae and pupae of the butterfly, say environmentalists. 

Common grass yellow butterfly

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More butterfly parks to come up

The environment minister Choubey informed the Lok Sabha that financial assistance is being provided to establish butterfly parks to boost the butterfly population. Emulating Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Maharashtra initiatives, such parks have been set up in Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh. 

In the very first year of its inception, the butterfly park at Van Vihar National Park in Bhopal, at least three dozen species of butterflies were observed there, including the Common Jezebel, Gram Blue, Common Banded Awl, Common Evening Brown, Blue Tiger, Plain Tiger, Striped Tiger, Common Indian Crow and the Common Grass Yellow species.

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Hundred and twenty six species of butterflies are listed in Schedule-I of the Government of India’s Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and 299 species and 18 species in Schedule-II, and Schedule-IV respectively. 

Schedule-I covers endangered species that need rigorous protection. Wildlife covered under Schedule-II is also accorded high protection with the prohibition on its trade. Meanwhile, species that are not endangered are included under Schedule III and IV.

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The Zoological Survey of India has studied butterflies as active pollinators in the Himalayan region as part of the National Mission for Himalayan Studies to conserve rare and endangered butterfly species. 

However, more extensive research is needed. The Indian government has enacted several Wildlife Protection Acts to safeguard the country’s rare and endangered species. It has designated wetlands and natural heritage sites of international importance as Ramsar sites to create an environment suitable for rare animal species.

Umashankar Mishra is a journalist at Vigyan Prasar. This article has been published in association with India Science Wire. Views are personal.

Read the story in Hindi.