2022-Jul-22
Monarch Butterflies Added to International Endangered List
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has added the monarch butterfly to it’s Red List of Threatened Species as endangered.
The IUCN estimates that the North American population of monarch butterflies has shrunk between 22-72% over the past ten years with habitat loss and climate change as the biggest threats to the species. The western population, found west of the Rockies and wintering in California has declined by 99% since the 1980s with drought and wildfires wreaking havoc on their habitat. The eastern population — found in eastern Canada and U.S., and during the winters in Mexico — declined by 84% between 1996 and 2014.
Conservationists suggest promoting the growth of milkweed, which monarch caterpillars feed on exclusively, maintaining dense forests and reducing the use of pesticides in the monarch’s migratory range may help the species rebound.
Read more here.