Rare beauty: The Kinabalu birdwing butterfly.
KOTA KINABALU: The gazetting of the Kinabalu Birdwing butterfly, known as “Kalibambang Emas”, as the official state butterfly of Sabah, is an initiative by the state government to boost the conservation of the butterfly species as well as other species.
The Kinabalu Birdwing, with the scientific name Troides Andromache, was chosen because it is an endemic species that can only be found in Sabah and Sarawak, at an altitude of between 1,000 and 2,000 feet (305m and 610m) above sea level.
The Sabah Biodiversity Centre, in a statement to Bernama, said the name “Kalibambang Emas” was chosen by the state Cabinet among the list of names proposed by the gazette committee.
The name of the butterfly comes from the Sungai tribe, which means a large butterfly, yellow like gold, bright and beautiful.
“The Kinabalu Birdwing butterfly’s characteristics are that it has wings between 60mm and 70mm in width, while the size of the wings of the male butterfly is half that of the female butterfly.
“The butterfly can only be found in the Mount Kinabalu and Crocker Range areas.
“It is also found in Sipitang near Merapok, and is considered to be very rare and difficult to catch,” said the centre.
The butterfly species has been listed as “vulnerable” under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List. It is also listed as a protected animal under Part I Table 2 of the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
On Sept 1, 2023, the butterfly species was listed under the Sabah Biodiversity Enactment (Amendment) 2023, as a Protected Biological Resource.
According to the centre, all programmes involving conservation will be carried out by it in collaboration with the relevant departments and agencies.
The decision to make the Kinabalu Birdwing butterfly the official state butterfly took about a year and involved several parties, including the late Dr Stephen Sutton, who ran the Kinabalu Birdwing Project, under the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu.
Stephen, who died on Dec 31 last year at the age of 85, was a reputable entomologist and butterfly researcher.
Others involved were the Sabah Forestry Department, Kinabalu Birdwing Project, Rotary Club, Sabah Parks, Sabah Attorney General’s Department, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Tourism Board, researcher Corne Van Der Linden and Dr Nazirah Mustaffa, a senior lecturer at the Institute of Tropical Biology and Conservation, Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
Rare beauty: The Kinabalu Birdwing butterfly.
