Relax - With flying colours

Relax

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There is something mesmerising about this place in Banteay Srei district in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The moment you walk through the bead curtain of the Angkor Butterfly Centre's enclosure, you are surrounded by lush colours and gentle swishing sounds.

Butterflies of all sizes and shades seem in a hurry to feed on flower nectar or fruit - after all, they have only one to four weeks to enjoy life. They flutter around visitors, basically ignoring them but deigning to rest on a person's finger if it is properly presented.

The enclosure contains more than 5,000 plants, shrubs and trees which 30 species of butterflies and moths nourish themselves with or lay their eggs on.

The centre is located in the Angkor Archaeological Park near Siem Reap town, along the road between Angkor Wat temple and the walled city of Angkor Thom, and the Banteay Srei temple.

Launched in October with a total budget of US$50,000 (S$69,151) given by private donors, the centre is a project of the Angkor Participatory Development Organisation, a non-governmental organisation helping Angkor Park's poorest villagers earn a living.

The centre gets butterfly supplies from 12 villagers, with plans to increase this number to 100 farmers as well as to export local species to Europe.

The centre includes a small cafe and an information centre with colourful panels on the life cycle of butterflies. It is open daily from 9am to 5pm. Admission fees are US$4 for adults, US$3 for students and US$2 for children.

This may be the biggest butterfly enclosure in South-east Asia spreading over 1,000 sq m, but it seems intimate compared to the World Heritage Site of Angkor, which can make visitors feel intimidated by the scale of the monuments built when the Khmer empire dominated the region more than 700 years ago.

Designed as a peaceful sanctuary with meandering alleys, ponds and benches, the centre lets people view the life cycle of butterflies and moths, from the eggs to the moment they unfold their wings.

It is home to about 30 species of butterflies and moths with space to accommodate at least 10 more species in the 40m by 26m garden enclosed under a giant net to keep predators away.

'The more diversity, the better,' said centre director Ben Hayes, a conservation biologist who has worked in South-east Asia since 1993. 'From a tourist's perspective, they have to be big, colourful or have something else interesting about them, maybe very good camouflage.

'But there's more than just the butterfly that's interesting. Some of the caterpillars are absolutely fascinating too.'

Just like the butterflies, the caterpillars come in an array of colours and designs: bright yellow with green lines, red and yellow stripes, pale brown with dark brown streaks. They are kept in a section reserved for butterfly farming, both for research and for visitors to see.

There, the minuscule butterfly eggs collected from leaves by workers are kept in small plastic containers.

When caterpillars emerge, they are moved to larger containers filled with food, so they can grow as much as 200 per cent within two weeks.

Once the caterpillars have sealed themselves in cocoons, workers place them in a small display case. About 14 days later, butterflies break free from their shells and dry their wings before taking flight - a magical sight to watch.

Butterflies and moths live one to four weeks, during which males and females mate, said Mr Alistair Mould, a biologist and ecologist who is in charge of farming at the centre.

The Atlas moth lives about one week and does not even have a mouth to feed as its only purpose is to reproduce, he said. It has a wing span that can reach 26cm and the largest wing surface of any butterfly or moth in the world.

Michelle Vachon is a freelance writer.

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With flying colours

By Michelle Vachon, The Straits Times | Thu, Dec 3 2009

Watch caterpillars transform into beauties at South-east Asia's biggest butterfly farm in Cambodia.

Keywords

butterflies