A monarch butterfly with a critical wing injury was given a second chance to fly after New York rescuers performed an intricate transplant procedure.
The vulnerable insect was brought to Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown, Long Island, with one of its wings seemingly damaged beyond repair last week.
It was bent and torn, hindering the monarch’s ability to fly. Dagmar Hoffdavis, of Dear Park, spotted the dying creature and wanted to try to save its life.
‘Butterfly, they say, is good luck from the other side, and so it’s a spiritual thing for me,’ she told CBS.
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Unwilling to give up on the butterfly, Hoffdavis carefully brought it to the nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation center to see if there was anything to be done to help.
Janine Bendicksen, the center’s director of wildlife rehabilitation, had the bold idea of a wing transplant.
The unusual procedure could give the tiny victim a fighting chance to be air-bound once again, she correctly believed. But first, it needed a viable donor.
‘I scoured the floor for a dead butterfly and I found a monarch. The wing was in perfect shape,’ Bendicksen told CBS.
A monarch butterfly with a critical wing injury was given a second chance to fly after New York rescuers performed an intricate transplant procedure (pictured)
Janine Bendicksen (pictured), Sweetbriar Nature Center’s director of wildlife rehabilitation, had the bold idea of a wing transplant
Once she found the perfect match, she delved into the five-minute-long surgery, which required both patience and precision.
‘It was so intricate, because this butterfly could fall apart if I pressed too hard,’ the rescuer told CBS.
She explained that the center used contact cement, corn starch and a small piece of wire, which held the butterfly, to pull off the feat.
Video shared by Sweetbriar Nature Center shows the insect being held down by the wire as Bendicksen used scissors to cut off the jagged ends of what remained of the broken wing.
She then lined the new wing up with what the butterfly had left and carefully glued it onto the insect.
Bendicksen assured that it did not feel a thing, as there are no nerve receptors or blood flow at the end portion of butterfly wings.
A few moments after the operation, the butterfly flapped its wings as it crawled onto Bendicksen’s hand.
She then took the newly healed insect outside, where it flew off effortlessly.
A few moments after the operation, the butterfly flapped its wings as it crawled onto Bendicksen’s hand (pictured)
She then took the newly healed insect outside, where it flew off effortlessly (pictured)
‘When a Good Samaritan called to ask if we could help an injured monarch butterfly, we didn’t hesitate,’ the center captioned the uplifting video.
‘Using a wing from a deceased butterfly, we carefully matched it to the broken wing and performed a delicate repair.
‘The result? You’d never know this monarch is flying with a replacement wing. Watching it take off brought tears to my eyes – this tiny traveler now has a second chance at life, and at completing its incredible journey.’
While lifespans can vary, monarch butterflies in North America generally live two to six weeks, according to the US Forest Service.
‘These butterflies travel thousands of miles to overwintering sites in Mexico and the western US – places they’ve never been, guided by instincts we still don’t fully understand,’ the center wrote.
Monarch butterflies, known for their distinctive wing patterns, live anywhere milkweed grows. They are most commonly found in the Midwest.
Larvae require milkweed for sustenance, but adult monarchs can collect nectar from a variety of flowering plants.
While the species is native to North America, it has spread throughout most of the world over the past 200 years, according to Monarch Joint Venture.
The center used contact cement, corn starch and a small piece of wire, which held the butterfly, to pull off the feat
The vulnerable insect was brought to Sweetbriar Nature Center (pictured) in Smithtown, Long Island, last week with one of its wings seemingly damaged beyond repair
‘They currently inhabit over 90 countries, islands, and island groups but differ in their morphology, migration and overwintering patterns, natural enemies, larval diet and genetics,’ the website reads.
Bendicksen said her trailblazing surgery has garnered attention from across the world, and she is optimistic that others will adapt the procedure to save more butterfly lives.
‘I’m getting calls from Minnesota, Costa Rica, California,’ she told CBS. ‘This butterfly would have died if we didn’t try. We need hope in this world today.’
