Liew meeting up with Sutton in Oct last year at the official launch of Kinabalu Birdwings as Sabah's official butterfly.
KOTA KINABALU: The passing of prominent entomologist Dr Stephen Sutton (pic), who is credited with the naming of the vibrant and elusive Kinabalu Birdwing as the state butterfly, is a great loss to Sabah, says a state minister.
The notable researcher in butterfly conservation passed away at the age of 85 after a short illness on New Year’s Eve.
Datuk Christina Liew, who is in charge of the state Tourism, Culture and Environment Ministry, described his death as a great loss to the state.
“It was because of his contribution in the Kinabalu Birdwing (Troides andromache) research that prompted the Sabah government to declare it a state butterfly,” she said in a statement yesterday.
She said Sutton, through the initiative of the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu, had been passionately at the forefront of the butterfly research project since 2019.
It culminated with the Kinabalu Birdwing – a rare and endangered species found mainly in the foothills of Mount Kinabalu – being named the state butterfly on Sept 13 last year.
Liew said Sutton and his team worked with her ministry, the Sabah Biodiversity Centre, Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Parks, Sabah Wildlife Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, and State Attorney General’s Chambers to get the Kinabalu Birdwing gazetted as Sabah’s state butterfly.
“I was privileged to meet Dr Sutton when I was invited to officially unveil the Kinabalu Birdwing as the state butterfly in October last year.
“Sutton had been the leading researcher on the Kinabalu Birdwing conservation project. I learned that this endeavour was his pet project.
“I was informed by his brother-in-law [natural history publisher Datuk CL Chan] that Dr Sutton’s last visit to see the conservation site at the Kinabalu Mountain Lodge was last Oct 22 despite his frailty,” she said in extending her condolences to the family.
Sutton had also donated RM40,000 to the Rotary Club of Kota Kinabalu for the Kinabalu Birdwing conservation project.
Unknown to many, Sutton had been consistently supporting the local communities at the foothills of Mount Kinabalu, especially Kampung Kiau Nuluh, to plant Aristolochia foveolata, the larval food plant of the Kinabalu Birdwing, in order to increase the butterfly’s population, Liew revealed.
According to Chan, Sutton had wanted to invite Liew to the launch of his two books – A Preliminary Guide to Pyralid Moths of Borneo (Volumes 1 and 2) – on a series of important monographs, published by Natural History Publications Borneo. But the launch was called off due to his failing health. “And he had just started working on the third volume,” Chan added.
Sutton also collaborated with world-renowned naturalist David Attenborough on several programmes.
