The Tropical Butterfly House, Wildlife Conservation Park has opened an exciting new addition, almost thirty years after the first Butterfly House opened its doors in 1994.
The project was to create an accessible energy-efficient and ecologically friendly environment to house butterflies and tropical plants. Construction was halted by the Covid 19 pandemic and Brexit delayed supplies, however with the support of the RDPE Growth Development Fund, two years later than expected, the project came to fruition.
It has certainly been worth the wait! Visitors are immediately immersed in the sights, sounds and smells of the tropics. With an amazing display of the world’s most colourful butterflies, half of which are sourced Mariposario del Bosque Nuevo, project (Butterflies of the New Forest). This project supports the reforestation and rewilding of this ex-plantation in Costa Rica.
With a central pond, stepping stones and accessible wide paths, expect to see an array of butterfly species including Blue Morpho, Monarch, Flame, Postman, Zebra, Malachite and the Owl butterfly flying around, landing on various plants to feed on the nectar. Different species of butterflies feed on different plants, therefore the positioning of the planting has been carefully structured to mirror their natural environment. If you’re lucky one may even land on you! Did you know, the spectacular Blue Morpho is one of the largest butterflies in the world, measuring around six inches long and with wing spans of up to 20 centimetres!
What customers are saying-
“We saw these on our visit yesterday. Had lots of fun, the new butterfly house is lovely and we had fun in the bird house too where I made 2 friends!”
“We came today, the new butterfly house is amazing”
“We watched this butterfly lay her eggs. Absolutely mesmerising”
The pupa display cabinet allows visitors to witness, close up, the process of the pupae emerging into beautiful butterflies, an ideal teaching tool for school visits to learn about the lifecycle of a butterfly.
Enjoying the sunshine in their new enclosure, with its own waterfall, are the park’s two Spectacled caimans Darwin and Pedra. Darwin is 24 years old and holds the title of the park’s longest resident arriving in 1999, he was just 20cm long. They love to show off their pearly white smile so be sure to snap some selfies with them.
The previous butterfly house, now the Tropical Bird House, is now home to free flying birds, from lorikeets to crown pigeons you will see some of the most colourful birds in the world.
And that’s not all, a brand-new bug house is opening later this year to house bugs, snakes and reptiles.
Posted on 02 June 2023
