The Monarch Butterfly

Fernando Palma Rodriguez & Shaheen Razzaq

The Monarch Butterfly, recognised for its beauty and its migration patterns each autumn throughout the North American continent, is today, an endangered species. Scientists have had a longstanding fascination in the migration patterns of this species that often travel up to 2000 miles and cover distances as far as from Southern Canada to the East coast of the USA to their winter sanctuary in the woodlands of Michoacan in the South of Mexico. The Monarch Butterfly’s ability to navigate a diversity of terrains and weather conditions has been a subject of extensive study and remains unexplained. This short animated film was produced by young people from Lansdowne School in collaboration with Fernando Palma Rodriguez and Shaheen Razzaq.