Monarch population overwintering in Mexico declined by 59%
Every winter, when monarchs are huddled together in Mexico to ride out the winter, a density assessment is made in an attempt to determine a head count of the Monarchs roosting there. The trend has been downward with just a couple of years showing a moderate increase, and the trajectory of decline has been steep.
Nonetheless, this one guy from the U. of Georgia waves around his doctorate degree in front of the USDA to proclaim that Monarchs aren't endangered. Mainstream press still takes this pinhead seriously, too. As if Monarchs haven't suffered enough from habitat loss, this particular un-named pinhead is on the war path to eradicate a particular milkweed because, he claims, it isn't native even though it has been in the Americas longer than Europeans have.
While home-rearing Monarchs won't put the brakes on such a steep decline, home rearing makes a difference between dying by predator and parasite early or living another day to lay more eggs. If you decide to make that kind of difference to your local Monarchs, don't let any Georgian pinhead or his army stop you.
#Monarchs #MonarchButterflies #endangered #nature #butterflies
