A few decades ago, Monarch butterflies were so numerous that no one would have thought the species would be endangered. In 1996, for instance, an estimated 1 billion of these insects arrived to winter in Mexico. However, the population of the butterflies has significantly dropped over the past years that by 2013, only 33 million of them made it to their wintering grounds.
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation said that the population of Monarchs has dropped by as much as 90 percent over the past two decades and this decline has something to do with the destruction of milkweed plants, where the orange and black colored butterflies lay their eggs.
The use of herbicides sprayed on genetically modified crops such as corn and soybeans, is particularly pointed out as one of the primary contributors of the decline in Monarch population because these chemicals kill the milkweed plants where the butterflies are born. The butterflies are also threatened by drought and heat waves, climate change and logging.
Concerned over the declining number of the butterflies, the Xerces Society, along with the Center for Biological Diversity and scientist Lincoln Brower, who specializes in Monarch, filed a petition asking that the butterflies be given federal protections.
On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said that the butterfly species may be warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act and that it will conduct a one-year status review to determine if the monarchs should be included in the endangered species list.
The process will start with a public information period that will span for two months during which the FWS will collect information from scientists and citizens about the butterfly including its health, biology and population.
"We are extremely pleased that the federal agency in charge of protecting our nation's wildlife has recognized the dire situation of the monarch," said Xerces Society endangered species director Sarina Jepsen. "Protection as a threatened species will enable extensive monarch habitat recovery on both public and private lands."
Should the Monarch make it to the endangered species list, the FWS would take several steps to protect the species. For one, killing the butterfly would become illegal except in certain circumstances. The agency would also likely issue guidelines that could help protect the insects. Farmers would likewise be encouraged, if not offered benefits, to allot land for milkweed, so the population of the insects would again flourish.
