The Toronto Zoo has a long history of butterfly work. Since 1993, the Toronto Zoo has been helping the Havana Zoo in Cuba develop a breeding facility and display for indigenous butterfly species in Cuba. More locally, the zoo is involved in annual butterfly surveys in its district and is on the Ontario Karner Blue Recovery Team, a group that includes the Michigan Department of Resources, the Ontario Parks, several naturalist groups, and an area owned and run by the First Nations. A protocol for captive breeding for the Karner Blue butterfly was completed in 1997 and now the zoo is waiting for sufficient habitat restoration to take place so it can begin captive breeding. Other butterfly candidates the Toronto Zoo would like to support include the Persius Duskywing and Frosted Elfin.

Most recently, zoo staff has been developing a field guide to be used by local natural resources field people. The guide will feature Species of Interest for Ontario and the designated Canadian Species At Risk within Ontario. The first edition of the guide will focus on butterflies and odonates, but plans have been made to include other invertebrate species in the future. In 2004 the first edition of the guide will be available as fact sheets or posters that will also be available on the Toronto Zoo website. Depending on the response, the zoo plans to produce a complete booklet that is waterproof with more specific information on each species. The zoo will also break this information down according to district so make it especially user-friendly.

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