Mission Blue butterfly making a Bay Area comeback

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A butterfly on the verge of disappearing from the Bay Area is now making a comeback with a little human help.

Over the last two decades the Mission Blue butterfly was nearly wiped out.

Last spring biologists and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department began capturing female Mission Blues on San Bruno Mountain and releasing them in other parts of the city.

Mission Blues are an exceptionally striking butterfly. The upper wings of the males a vivid iridescent blue, a color rarely found in nature and they live only along very windy hilltops in a few Bay Area locations

Today biologists say the efforts are paying off and the number of new Mission Blue butterflies has increased significantly.

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