Niabi Zoo has confirmed the presence of a population of endangered rusty patched bumble bees on its grounds.
Zoo Director Lee Jackson announced the discovery of the bees, which were placed on the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) endangered species list in 2017.
“While not actually part of our animal collection, the rusty patched bumble bee presence is in no small part, due to the efforts of zoo staff in returning portions of the zoo grounds to native plantings,” Jackson said in a news release.
Thought to be extinct in the region, a rusty patched bumble bee was identified in 2018 at the zoo and also has been seen at Nahant Marsh and Illiniwek Forest Preserve in Hampton.
Once common throughout the eastern United States and two provinces of Canada, the bees have only been found in fragmented populations in 13 states and one Canadian province since 2000.
Jackson said the rusty patched bumble bee population has been in dramatic decline from habitat loss, intensive farming, pesticide use, disease, and climate change.
“Bumble bees are one of the most important pollinators of many crops and one of the only insect pollinators of tomatoes,” Jackson said. “They are far more effective pollinators than even honey bees because of the bumble bee’s ability to ‘buzz pollinate.’ The pollination services of native insects, especially bees, provide an economic value of nearly $3 billion per year in the United States.”