The western monarch butterfly population is near record lows; fewer than 10k individual butterflies counted this year. xerces.org/press/wester... - ThreadSky

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alexwild.bsky.social • 30 days ago

The western monarch butterfly population is near record lows; fewer than 10k individual butterflies counted this year.

https://xerces.org/press/western-monarch-butterfly-population-declines-to-near-record-low

Comments

stevedimock.bsky.social•30 days ago

Horrifying!

aperroud.bsky.social•30 days ago

😿😿😿

etxgov.bsky.social•30 days ago

That seems catastrophic.

alexwild.bsky.social•30 days ago

Seemed that way in 2020, but they somehow recovered the next year. Still, not great.

brannockdevice.bsky.social•30 days ago

Nobody bothers to count the caterpillars.

jeanc57.bsky.social•26 days ago

I can’t like this. I plant milkweed but it isn’t enough.

ukleguin.bsky.social•30 days ago

Is that a result of the cold snap last year which had a negative impact on many butterflies in BC or something else?

madelinebright.bsky.social•30 days ago

At least for our eastern population it's death by a thousand cuts made worse by climate change. Milkweed stands and important nectar plants keep getting bulldozed in urban areas or sprayed in rural areas. Rampant use of insecticides. Two years of bad drought here paired with cold springs too.