Partnering for Rare Species

Supporting Recovery Efforts for Michigan’s Rarest Butterfly

The Minnesota Zoo, John Ball Zoo, and Michigan State University’s Haddad Lab cooperated to provide a captive rearing program as part of an international partnership, that includes MNA, to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered Poweshiek skipperling. This year, several offspring of a Poweshiek skipperling butterfly from an MNA sanctuary were released back into that sanctuary after being raised at the John Ball Zoo through the winter.

Recovering Habitat for the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake

MNA coordinated and facilitated restoration work among partners including Michigan Natural Features Inventory and Grand Valley State University as part of a multi-year grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The grant covers population surveys and monitoring, habitat connectivity analyses, risk factor assessments, and education and outreach efforts to increase public support and tolerance for the Eastern massasauga rattlesnake. In the first year of the grant, MNA also conducted habitat management and restoration at both publicly and privately-owned areas occupied by the rattlesnake in the Upper Shiawassee River Watershed in Oakland County.

Partnering for Vernal Pools

MNA continued its co-leadership role with the Michigan Vernal Pools Partnership—a statewide, private/public partnership that works to increase awareness, understanding, and protection of vernal pools and the unique assemblage of plants and animals they support through conservation, research & mapping, education & outreach, and collaboration. A dedicated Michigan Vernal Pools Partnerhsip Coordinator joined the staff at MNA in 2022 to help facilitate the partnership.

Protecting a Rare Snake with New Technology

A unique research project continues as part of a partnership between MNA, John Ball Zoo, and the Michigan Natural Features Inventory to monitor the state endangered and critically imperiled copperbelly water snake at an MNA Nature Sanctuary in the southern Lower Peninsula. Using a combination of game cameras and traditional drift fences, field observation time of the snake will be increased with minimal human presence and disturbance of the habitat. An additional benefit of the technology will be the ability to gather data to learn more about many other reptiles, amphibians, and small creatures that call the sanctuary home.