WHAT is black, orange, stripy and at risk of extinction? The monarch butterfly. Last week the US government agreed to assess the butterfly for inclusion on its endangered species list.
Best known for massive migrations between Mexico, the US and Canada, the butterflies had dwindled to 35 million by last winter, according to the Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity. That's a drop of 90 per cent in 20 years.
"Monarchs are being hit hard from all directions," says Ernest Williams, who studies monarchs at Hunter College in New York. He cites climate change and the loss of breeding and winter habitats as the main factors behind the decline. "Many monarch biologists think that the loss of breeding habitat currently has the strongest effect," he says. The herbicide Roundup may be the main culprit. It kills milkweed, the monarch caterpillar's only source of food.
"The monarch certainly warrants listing," says Tierra Curry of the Center for Biological Diversity. But due to a backlog of species the monarch could end up on a waiting list, she says.
This article appeared in print under the headline "Save the monarch"
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