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The International Union for Conservation of Nature declared last year in Danger of extinction to the butterfly migratory monarch, a decision that caused a stir around the world. On September 27, after media attention waned somewhat, the organization downgraded the subspecies to “endangered,” a lower level in its risk rating system.
According to IUCNthe models that showed the insect’s demise were probably overly cautious and its numbers are declining more slowly than previously thought.
To be clear, most Danaus plexippus butterflies are in good condition. This is why people in many parts of North America You still see this charismatic insect flying through your patios and gardens.
Importance of monarch butterflies
In recent decades, scientists have become increasingly concerned about the migratory monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. Plexippus is a subspecies that undergoes an incredible multigenerational migration of 4 thousand kilometers each year from its breeding grounds in Canada and USA to their wintering grounds in Mexico.
Even worse is the fate of western migratory monarchs, whose population has declined from about 10 million insects in the 1980s to just 1,914 in 2021, a loss of about 99.9 percent of the population, according to the IUCN.
Threats include loss of breeding sites, exposure to pesticides and climate change, which could cause temperature fluctuations in the insects’ wintering grounds outside the Mexico City.
However, other data contradicts such a serious drop. When Andy Davis, a wildlife ecologist at the University of Georgiaand their co-authors analyzed data collected during the annual butterfly count of the North American Association of Butterfliesthey found that while populations had declined in some places, others had declined but also increased.
And although he disagrees with the idea that the number of monarch butterflies in Mexican wintering areas is low, his team’s analysis shows that the relative abundance of the subspecies in its breeding areas increases by 1.36 percent every year.
Because of this, Davis requested a review of his En status. Danger to the IUCNresulting in the migratory monarch being reclassified as Vulnerable.
Although status changes occur frequently, they are often accompanied by new data showing a significant change in the outlook for the species or new information that has become known. In this case it is neither one nor the other.
There may be a downside to monarch mania.
Davis disagrees with many opinions about the plight of migrating monarchs, but trying to help butterflies is close to his heart. In fact, he believes victim narratives are detrimental to the species.
Including endangered species “has led to an increase in risky human behavior. When people learn that monarchs are endangered, they bring them into their kitchens.
For example, well-meaning people have even gone so far as to purchase monarch butterfly breeding kits online and remove monarch butterfly pupae from their natural habitat and raise them indoors.
Davis says that rather than increasing populations, these practices can spread parasites to wild monarchs and create individuals that have lost the ability to move properly.