The Fort Worth Botanic Garden has reopened its Butterflies in the Garden exhibit to visitors after temporarily closing last week due to a lack of butterflies.
The Garden initially released an announcement on March 4 that it was halting sales and refunding purchases of tickets for the exhibit due to a low number of butterflies.
Bob Byers, the executive vice president, said that staff at the Garden were disappointed but “hopeful and excited” that the Garden would reopen soon.
“While there are certainly lots of butterflies in the Rainforest Conservatory, the numbers are not what we have promised our guests, nor are they at historical levels,” Byers said in a statement on the Botanic Garden’s website.
The circumstances surrounding the low number of butterflies are unclear.
Byers revealed that the recent freezing weather conditions, along with compromised transit, were likely factors in the reduced population. However, the Garden began investigating other elements that may have led to the reduction.
In a later announcement on March 7, the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and Botanical Research Institute of Texas happily reported the exhibit was reopening.
The update explained that the unseasonably cold temperatures and issues with shipping and logistics were indeed partly to blame for the butterflies’ absence. It also noted, however, that entomology experts would continue their investigation into the other causes, which were not specified.
For the first three days after the Garden’s reopening, guests were offered discounted admission to the exhibit as staff released more butterflies into the Rainforest Conservatory.
The Butterflies in the Garden exhibit is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and runs until April 10. Tickets are available for purchase at the door or in advance on the Fort Worth Botanic Garden’s website.