The annual phenomenon of migrating south and landing accurately in the Angangueo forest of Mexico to find the wintering grounds of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) continues to captivate scientists. This migration season, an environmental expert has undertaken the challenge of following this remarkably precise migration path.
Environmental expert Francisco Gutierrez is striving to draw attention to the fragile existence of the monarch butterfly’s wintering site in Mexico. He has flown the migration route spanning 4,500 kilometers and concluded his flight just yesterday.
Gutierrez’s ultra-light Papalotzin aircraft landed in Angangueo, located in the state of Michoacán, Central Mexico. This area is one of the dense forests west of Mexico City and serves as an ideal wintering site for the migrating monarch butterfly populations from Canada.
The World Wildlife Fund, the government of Michoacán, and the Mexican mobile phone company Telcel sponsored Gutierrez’s flight.
Each year, millions of monarch butterflies from the United States and Canada, belonging to an entirely new generation, fly south and land with remarkable precision in their wintering forests in Mexico. Scientists still do not fully understand the intricacies of this migration process.
