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Highway shut for butterfly travel
Taiwan
is to close one lane of a major highway to protect more than a million
butterflies, which cross the road on their seasonal migration.The
purple milkweed butterfly, which winters in the south of the island,
passes over some 600m of motorway to reach its breeding ground in the
northMany of the 11,500 butterflies that attempt the journey each hour
do not reach safety, experts say.Protective nets and ultra-violet lights will also be used to aid the insects.
Taiwanese
officials conceded that the decision to close one lane of the road
would cause some traffic congestion, but said it was a price worth
paying.”Human beings need to coexist with the other species, even if
they are tiny butterflies,” Lee Thay-ming, of the National Freeway
Bureau, told the AFP news agency.Under the bridge
Each
year thousands of butterflies die when turbulence generated by
fast-moving cars drags them into the traffic or under the wheels of
oncoming vehicles.Ecologists hope the triple-action effort of lane
closure, protective nets and ultra-violet lighting will dramatically
increase the milkweed’s chances of reaching the breeding ground.The
protective nets are designed to force the butterflies to fly higher,
reducing the chances of them getting caught in the traffic.Ultra-violet
lighting will be used below an elevated section of road to encourage
the butterflies to head beneath.The measures are estimated to have cost
$30,000 (£15,200).
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