Since the last butterfly count done at the Kruger National Park (KNP), an additional eight species were added to the list. The 1978 count was done by the devoted rangers of the KNP and authored in a book by Johan Kloppers named Butterflies of the Kruger National Park. An estimate total of 270 different butterfly species are now general distributors of the KNP.
The labour of love that completed this ultimate task rested in the hands of Zimbabwean-born Herbert Otto, who devoted 11-years of his life to research the butterflies of the KNP. His hard work eventually paid off in July 2014, when his updated version of the 1978 classic was released.
In the 2014 edition distribution maps is provided, with red dots highlighting KNP rest camps where the butterfly can be spotted, and a pie chart showing the butterfly's status - how rare or common they are. Each of the known KNP butterfly species is dealt with on its own page, along with with its scientific names, life history, and larval host plants.
One of the main priorities is to finish this project was to get the youth enthused.
It would not only drag them away from the television, but it will also assist them to get back in touch with their environment, with the Earth and its fertile blessings and eventually with their communities again.
Students of the University of Pretoria students have been an exceptional help by going along on an adventure of a lifetime through collecting butterfly data in the KNP and it generated the first step to culminate the voluntarily act of butterfly spotting.
By the time a butterfly has reached maturity in the shape of a stately butterfly, it has survived 80 – 90 percent of its life's onslaughts...