The San Diego Zoo is racing to save these rare butterflies before they vanish
The Laguna Mountains Skipper, one of the rarest butterflies in San Diego County.
(U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Southwest Region)
SAN DIEGO —
High up in the mountains of San Diego County, there are meadows with creeks and streams where some of San Diego’s rarest butterflies flutter from flower to flower.
But life isn’t as idyllic for the Laguna Mountains skipper as it may sound. These endangered butterflies have vanished from the very mountain range they were named after and are now found only on Palomar Mountain. Climate change, human activity and wildfires threaten to wipe them out altogether.