Sabah’s newly named state butterfly is threatened by a double whammy
Despite its discovery 131 years ago, little is known of the rare and mysterious Kinabalu or Borneo Birdwing butterfly (Troides Andromache) which is struggling for survival. Its population is not known. But there may be about 5,000 of them left in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia’s tallest at 4,095 metres, according to Stephen Sutton, 85, a British entomologist. He has been at the fore front of the butterfly research project supported by the Kota Kinabalu Rotary Club that started six years ago and culminated in the Sabah government naming the giant birdwing its state butterfly on October 2. It is a belated attempt to save it from extinction. Wildlife officials say many of them have been wiped out by deforestation. But the butterfly now faces a new threat – climate change.
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