Beloved monarch butterflies now listed as endangered, one step closer to extinction
- The iconic orange-and-black insect is now on a ‘red list’ of threatened species, as its numbers see a ‘devastating decline’
- The butterflies are famed for the spectacle of their annual migration, when millions of them take part in the longest journey of any insect species
The monarch butterfly fluttered a step closer to extinction on Thursday, as scientists put the iconic orange-and-black insect on the endangered list because of its fast dwindling numbers.
“It’s just a devastating decline,” said Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new listing. “This is one of the most recognisable butterflies in the world.”
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature added the migrating monarch butterfly for the first time to its “red list” of threatened species and categorised it as “endangered” – two steps from extinct.
The group estimates that the population of monarch butterflies in North America has declined between 22 per cent and 72 per cent over 10 years, depending on the measurement method.
“What we’re worried about is the rate of decline,” said Nick Haddad, a conservation biologist at Michigan State University. “It’s very easy to imagine how very quickly this butterfly could become even more imperilled.”
Haddad, who was not directly involved in the listing, estimates that the population of monarch butterflies he studies in the eastern United States has declined between 85 per cent and 95 per cent since the 1990s.