Monarch butterflies have been added to the endangered species list

Monarch butterflies have been added to the endangered species list, which means they are just few steps away from extinction.

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Scientists have added monarch butterflies to the endangered species list after seeing a decline in numbers, according to The Associated Press.

According to the New York Times, part of the reason is because of plant loss and climate change.

It’s the first time that the monarch butterfly has been added to the endangered species list, which is compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, according to the AP. This new categorization means that the monarch is just two steps away from being extinct. The IUCN estimates that the monarch butterfly population in North America has declined between 22% to 72% over the last 10 years.

In North America, monarch butterflies in the millions take the longest migration of “any insect species known to science.” They winter in the mountains of central Mexico they migrate north to Canada, while breeding all the way. By summer, they migrate back to Mexico, said the AP. Some monarch butterflies in winter spend time in coastal California and migrate to several western states during the spring and summer.

What are some ways to help monarch butterflies? The AP said that planting more milkweed can help, because that is what the monarch caterpillars depend on during that phase of their lifecycle.

Another problem that the NYT highlighted was that American farmers have been turning to crops that “were genetically modified to withstand glyphosate,” which is a herbicide found in weed killer. Glyphosate was sprayed across vast areas of farmland, which took out a lot of milkweed plants.

The United States has not added the monarch butterflies to the Endangered Species Act but several environmental groups think it should be, according to the AP.

The NYT said that in 2020, U.S. wildlife officials noticed that monarch butterflies were getting closer to possible extinction but weren’t added to the list because officials believed that conservation of other species needed to be prioritized.

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