Monarch butterflies in the western U.S. close to extinction

Monarch butterflies in the western United States are perilously close to extinction.

Section:Gallery

Wed., Dec. 16, 2020

In this June 2, 2019, photo, a monarch butterfly wing soon after it emerged in Washington. Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species.

Carolyn Kaster Associated Press
In this June 2, 2019, photo, a fresh monarch butterfly rests on a Swedish Ivy plant soon after emerging in Washington. Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species.

Carolyn Kaster Associated Press
In this July 29, 2019, photo, a monarch butterfly rests on a plant at Abbott's Mill Nature Center in Milford, Del. Trump administration officials are expected to say this week whether the monarch butterfly, a colorful and familiar backyard visitor now caught in a global extinction crisis, should receive federal designation as a threatened species.

Carolyn Kaster Associated Press
A monarch butterfly is silhouetted suspended near its empty chrysalis soon after emerging in Washington, Sunday, June 2, 2019. Farming and other human development have eradicated state-size swaths of its native milkweed habitat, cutting the butterfly's numbers by 90% over the last two decades. It is now under considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Carolyn Kaster Associated Press
In this Aug. 19, 2015 photo, Tom Merriman stands behind a monarch in his butterfly atrium at his nursery in Vista, Calif. Researchers with an environmental group are labeling as "disturbingly low" the number of western monarch butterflies that migrate along the California coast. A recent count by the Xerces Society recorded fewer than 30,000 butterflies, which it says is an 86 percent decline since 2017.

Gregory Bull Associated Press