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YMCA campers learn to conserve Monarch butterflies


YMCA campers learn to conserve Monarch butterflies
Devin Bartolotta
Aug 22, 2014 9:06 p.m.
  
ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) - Monarch butterfly populations have been in trouble in recent years as their habitats have been destroyed by commercialization.
This summer, campers at the Rochester YMCA are learning about butterflies and how they can make sure the insects are still around when they are grown ups.

"You have to extend the proboscis onto the cotton ball, and if it drinks, it drinks," said camper Veronika Voss.

Class is in session at the Rochester YMCA.

"The kids are picking up really well with the butterflies, and the scientific processes that go into them," said camp director Patrick Franko.

The kids are getting hands-on experience feeding the butterflies and making sure they're well taken care of.

"This is keeping the education alive in the summer and emphasizing and encouraging their curiosity," said Monarch butterfly instructor De Cansler.

The retired science teacher has a passion for preservation and she's teaching these kids about a species that's in trouble.

"The thing that's diminished the population at least as far as scientists think now, is that it's habitat depletion," said Cansler.

Nationwide, monarch butterflies are on the decline. According to the University of Minnesota Monarch Lab, almost 6,000 acres of land per day are lost in the U.S. due to building.

"The habitat that monarchs used to rely on for their food source is no longer. So it's a big emphasis now to plant milkweed," Cansler said.

"It gets skinny, and after it's done drinking it'll get bigger. And one of the butterflies is really fat," giggled camper Ariana Guerrero.

Some of these scientists are just six years old, but they are the generation that their instructor hopes can give the monarch population the push it needs to soar again.

"My hope is that by connecting to a monarch that they've reared, that they will become more connected to conservation," Cansler said.

Aside from rearing their own butterflies, every kid at camp will be getting some milkweed seeds, so they can plant them and all do their part to save the monarchs.

http://m.kttc.com/w/main/story/119352016/

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