monarch butterflies
Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
Indigenous activists are risking their lives for butterflies
In Central Mexico’s forests, armed community members defend an iconic butterfly from cartel-backed logging.
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
Saving monarch butterflies is this Minnesota mayor's conservation project
Amáda Márquez Simula, the mayor of Columbia Heights, explains how her focus on saving monarch butterflies has sparked community interest in environmental conservation.
The secret in the spots on monarch butterflies’ wings
The wings of monarchs that survive a 2,000-mile-long migration tend to be spottier, suggesting that feature may aid the insects’ ability to fly.
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Botanical gardens offer a refuge for Arizona's butterfly species
Arizona is home to more than 65 species of butterfly, and while populations have declined over the last four decades — victims of climate change, drought and urbanization — the botanical garden in central Phoenix stands out as an important refuge for the insect pollinators.
In Mexico, endangered monarch butterflies inspire hopes of a comeback
The migratory monarch population has fallen between 22% and 72% over the past decade, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which declared the species endangered in July.
Monarch butterflies are now an endangered species
The IUCN also announced that sturgeon are in rapid decline, while tiger populations are stabilizing.
Laura Pontiggia/Flickr
Monarch butterflies are officially endangered
Renowned for their impressive migrations of more than 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles) over several generations, the monarch decline is driven by habitat loss, herbicide and pesticide use, logging at overwintering sites in Mexico, urban development and drought.
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