Source: Xinhua

04-09-2009 15:10

Special Report:   Tech Max

KATHMANDU, April 9 (Xinhua) -- Climate change comes home to roost. A research, based on Apollo butterfly and Pika hare, the harbingers of global warming, conducted by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Nepal's Langtang region of the Himalayas indicate a disturbing trend.

Experts: butterflies soaring higher due to climate change in  Himalayas region  (File Photo)

According to Thursday's THT Online report, both the insect and mammal have migrated up to 500 meters in the upper reaches in the last 15 years or so due to the adverse impact of climate change.

"Usually Apollo butterflies are found at 3,000 meters above sea level. Over the years, it has moved 500 meters above. While, Pika has relocated 100 meters higher," Bhaiya Khanal of Natural History Museum told the website.

Khanal, an expert on butterflies, was a part of the WWF team that conducted the research.

"We can find more evidence of climate changes in the Himalayan region if we conduct an extensive survey. It has been observed that some species of butterfly like Pancy and Crow, which are usually found in the Terai (plain), are now being sighted in the Valley these days," he explained.

There has been a discernible shift in the life cycle of butterflies as well.