From 2,000 to 100,000, Western monarch butterflies arrived in California for their 2021 winter migration in huge numbers.
Summary
- When just 200 Western monarch butterflies arrived in the Pismo Beach Butterfly Grove from their northerly migration last year, park rangers feared the treasured insect would soon be gone forever.
- It’s expected that the monarch butterfly will be placed on the Endangered Species List soon, due to declines in both western and eastern monarch butterfly numbers.
- CHECK OUT: Listen to Millions of Monarch Butterflies Make One of the Rarest Sounds on Earth: ‘Just like a waterfall’“Last year was devastating, but this year I’m very hopeful,” she told the Christian Science Monitor.
- “Providing funding for roadside pollinator habitat can help bees, monarch butterflies and other flower visitors,” stated Sarina Jepsen, the Xerces Society Director of the Endangered Species program.
- Meanwhile, whatever has exploded the western monarch numbers this year is a welcome change and may well continue into the 2020s.