Conservationists release rare butterfly species into Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve

A team of conservationists are working to restore the Poweshiek Skipperling population and preserve the tall grass prairie ecosystem. 

They recently released Poweshiek Skipperling out into The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Preserve out by Vita. 

A Powersheik Skipperling that was released.

Conservation Programs Manager Laura Burns with the Winnipeg Zoo says they looked at a wide variety of factors when choosing the site to release the Poweshiek. 

“How we chose this site was led by the University of Winnipeg, Dr. Katherine Dearborn did a whole bunch of habitat surveying and talked to a bunch of experts like us about what we thought were important characteristics of the site that Poweshiek need.” 

Conservation Programs Manager Laura Burns.

They created a long list of important traits, some of which include the presence of grasses the butterflies like to eat, shrub cover, when the Poweshiek were last seen there, distance to the nearest occupied site, and types of flowers present at the site. 

Once they had the list, they assessed each site for all the desired characteristics, and then weighed how important all the different traits were. 

Burns says they came down to three finalist sites, which they then visited in-person, and decided on The Manitoba Tall Grass Prairie Reserve. 

“We liked it’s suitability ranking from the work we did beforehand, but we also liked it was kind of contained.” 

Melissa Grantham with the Nature Conservancy of Canada adds the entirety of the project took around two years, and explains they didn’t want to rush into anything. 

“It was a scary endeavor to jump into putting them somewhere we weren’t sure they were going to be the following year. It was the very first time Poweshiek had ever been reintroduced anywhere ever, so we wanted to make sure we did our due diligence and got it right and brought in as much expertise as possible to make the decision.” 

Burns says releasing the Poweshiek the first year they did it was very nerve-wracking, but it turned out the site they chose was a good pick. 

“Now that we’ve seen adults here this year, it indicates that they likely succeeded in breeding and recruiting that next generation. I cried a little bit when I heard there were adults here this year, I was so happy and relieved and excited,” she says. “It feels pretty incredible to be part of a project where you can see concrete results. I’ve been part of the project since 2017, and seeing how it’s grown has been incredible.” 

Grantham explains why restoring Poweshiek populations is important. 

“They are part of the ecosystem, they are part of the landscape, they belong here. Whether we see it or not, they play an important role, so i think that conserving and working on restoring any part of that ecosystem is really important.” 

While we are used to seeing grasslands all over the place here in Southeast Manitoba, Grantham says they are actually the most endangered landscape globally. 

“When we think of tall grass prairie, the habitat that this species relies on, grasslands are the most endangered landscape in the world, even more than rainforests.” 

This makes preserving the Poweshiek population even more crucial. 

“They are part of that tall grass prairie landscape, and it's really important that we keep them around.” 

Norm Gregoire with Shared Legacy says this is such a valuable thing to have in our community. 

“I think it just goes to show how unique our natural area is, when we are talking about tall grass prairie for us as community members, this is our backyard so we sometimes maybe don’t realize how lucky we are.” 

He says the Poweshiek Skipperling are very rare species, so being able to be part of a release for the species is really neat. 

“I think it’s important for folks to be able to connect with the land. When they are releasing these species back into the wild, it creates a connection between of us as neighbours—neighbours as in me and you, and neighbours as in me and the Poweshiek Skipperling.” 

He says when you see a Poweshiek Skipperling, it’s a reminder of the achievements of everyone who has come together to prevent the species becoming extinct or extricated. 

“You can't take that for granted, no matter if it's a first, or some of these folks have been doing it for years.” 

With files from Carly Koop