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All Mexico El Rosario Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve

The winter home of millions of migrating monarch butterflies.

El Rosario, Mexico

Added By
Ernesto Alvarado Reyes
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Monarchs in Michoacán   Rafael Saldaña/CC BY 2.0
Monarchs in Michoacán   Rafael Saldaña/CC BY 2.0
Monarch in Michoacán   Rafael Saldaña/CC BY 2.0
A tree full of monarchs in Michoacán   Rafael Saldaña/CC BY 2.0
Monarchs in Michoacán   Rafael Saldaña/CC BY 2.0
Monarchs in Michoacán   Scott Clark/CC BY 2.0
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.   Bfpage/cc by 3.0
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve.   Jiuguang Wang on Flickr/cc by-sa 2.0
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About

Millions of monarch butterflies—enough to cover entire fir forests—migrate every winter from Canada to the mountains of the central highlands of Mexico, creating a swarm of beautiful insects. But there is nothing to fear. These butterflies are remarkably tame and even land all over the hands and heads of visiting tourists.

In 1940, Canadian entomologist Fred Urquhart and his wife Norah Urquhart started a project to learn more about monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) migration routes. Helped by many American citizen scientists, they found plenty of wintering sites in the United States. However, the butterflies arriving in Texas seemed to suddenly disappear. A fellow entomologist, Kenneth Brugger, traveled through Mexico, following the monarch butterflies' migration.

In 1975, he found a spot in the mountains in the state of Michoacan, Mexico, where the butterflies spent the winter months. Since then, those peaks have become a tourist attraction.

Now, to protect the butterflies, this place has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The government of Mexico has turned it into a biosphere reserve. During the winter months, all the trees go from green to orange due to the large number of butterflies that live in and on them. The sky looks full of the picturesque creatures.

The reserve is also covered by forests of sacred firs inhabited by a variety of other species of wildlife. But good luck finding them underneath those butterflies.

Related Tags

Insects Butterflies Sanctuaries Unesco

Know Before You Go

From the town of Angangueo, people who do not have a car can go to the reserve in local buses. People with cars should go to El Rosario village. The main visitors center is in El Rosario.

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Flavors of Oaxaca: Markets, Mezcal & Home-Cooked Meals

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Community Contributors

Added By

E Alvarado Reyes

Edited By

hrnick, evelynpina, EricGrundhauser, Michelle Cassidy

  • hrnick
  • evelynpina
  • EricGrundhauser
  • Michelle Cassidy

Published

August 5, 2015

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Sources
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Urquhart
  • http://www.soymonarca.mx/index.html
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarch_Butterfly_Biosphere_Reserve
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
El Rosario
Mexico
19.563794, -100.296893
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Nearby Places

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico

Mexico

North America

Places 606
Stories 61

Nearby Places

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Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Mexico

Mexico

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Places 606
Stories 61

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