Precious monarch butterflies born @DOEE_DC HQ near Union Station were released today in Anacostia Park @WTOP pic.twitter.com/mMrNd4F9wx
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) September 2, 2015
WASHINGTON — Monarch butterflies, loved for their stunning beauty, are in serious trouble.
But what happened Wednesday in D.C. is proof you can help them, even if you live smack dab in the middle of a city.
“There’s been a 90-percent decline in the population of monarchs,” Matt Robinson with D.C.’s Department of Energy and Environment tells WTOP.
One of the reasons is a loss of habitat for milkweed, the only plant that monarch caterpillars eat.
Knowing about the milkweed decline, the folks at DOEE planted some milkweed last year in the gardens at the department’s headquarters building in Northeast near Union Station.
Sure enough, this year, monarch eggs turned up.
“Two or three weeks ago we were out scoping things out, and I saw caterpillars,” Robinson says.
Staffers put the creepy crawlies in a container and watched them transform into butterflies.
On Wednesday, they set the insects free in Anacostia Park.
Precious monarch butterflies born @DOEE_DC HQ near Union Station were released today in Anacostia Park @WTOP pic.twitter.com/mMrNd4F9wx
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) September 2, 2015
“We decided to release them out here, and hopefully they’ll migrate all the way to Mexico,” says Robinson.
You can do the same to help monarchs at your house. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has detailed information and how-tos on its website.
