The Butterfly Farm on Grand Cayman closed its doors on Oct. 9.
Owner Tony Cox cited two factors for the closing: a decline in visitors and the cost of rebuilding the facility following Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
Cox has no plans to shut his three butterfly farms on Aruba, St. Martin and St. Thomas.
The farm on Grand Cayman opened in February 2003 and became one of the island’s most popular attractions for land-based and cruise visitors, according to a tourism spokesman.
Hundreds of butterflies from around the world fluttered about the mesh-blanketed replica of a bamboo rain forest, complete with flowers, trees, ponds and a small fountain.
Guided tours ran about an hour and included facts on the life-stage changes of the butterflies and how to handle the fragile insects.