NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — The beloved Butterfly Conservatory reopened at the American Museum of Natural History Saturday following a one-year COVID-19 hiatus.
The climate-controlled attraction features 500 live butterflies among tropical flowers and vegetation inside a 1,200-square-foot vivarium. The annual winter exhibition was paused last year during the pandemic.
“Butterflies and months, we might think of them as just being a ‘thing,’ but actually there’s close to 200,000 species and here at the museum we have over 2 million individual butterfly specimens in our collection,”said Dr. Jessica Ware - Assistant Curator in the Department of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History.
Monarchs, zebra longwings and paper kites, are among the many species that will be fluttering about inside. The creatures are sourced from farms in Florida, Costa Rica, Kenya, Thailand, Malaysia, Ecuador, and Australia.
Vaccination requirements are in place for those 12 years and older and face masks are required for every attendant aged two years and older. The exhibition will run through May 30, 2022.
“With all of those kinda of safety protocols in place I think we’re in good shape for people to come and enjoy these butterflies safely.,” Ware said.