Media Reports on Butterfly Releases

New York Times, Sept. 15, 1998. Dr. Sonia Altizer, a disease ecologist at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul, and one of the few scientists sudying Monarch diseases says "In natural populations there are all sorts of parasites present that aren't a problem until you do captive breeding at high densities in close quarters. In addition, many people raise caterpillars on drugs that can suppress diseases caused by protozoa and bacteria but not eliminate them. When such apparently healthy butterflies are released, they can act as carriers, spreading disease."