With 86% Drop, California’s Monarch Butterfly Population Hits Record Low

Al Gore would have declared this a national emergency.

They have mostly disappeared from my part of upstate New York from what I remember in the 1960's.

It's tragic that our "leaders" are focused on things like a wall, while these are the true crises of our time. Americans who plant flags but not milkweed: you are fools.

Yet California economic plan is to build build build.

Why not wait until the full count is in “next week” before the press release? It will undoubtedly lower the percentage because it will add to the total counted. I guess we can google it up, but do no reporters at the NYT bother with obvious questions like this anymore?

This article made me weep. As a child, I came upon monarchs laying eggs on milkweed in the meadow across the street from our home. I picked sprigs, took them home, and put them in a vase in the living room. The tiny eggs hatched. I spent the rest of that summer bringing fresh milkweed to the caterpillars and watching every step of their growth, pupation, and metamorphosis. When the butterflies emerged and dried their wings, we opened the windows and sent them free. Years later on a fine autumn day, I was riding my horse in a park and -- for the only time in my life -- came across a migrating flock. As we galloped by, they flew out of the trees and engulfed the horse and me in a swirl of orange wings. It was like a beautiful dream, flying thru the living storm, the most magical experience of my life.

I’ve spent the last 6-7 years planting native plants while ripping out anything that was introduced and other nonnative plants. We will get a few swallowtails and monarchs. There has always been a good number of painted ladies. Not a single one last year. It’s really sad. But I just received seeds in the mail today so I’ll be planting more stuff. Maybe next year will be better.

It may be futile, but... I have about 12,000 swamp milkweed seeds that I bought from saveourmonarchs.org for a nominal amount currently stratifying in my fridge. I bought a large quantity because they are difficult to germinate, and if it works, I plan on distributing seedlings to any neighbors or institutions that want them. My understanding is that you need other sources of pollinator food for the butterflies in addition to the milkweed so I'll plant wildflowers as well. There are lots of nonprofits out there that are distributing seeds or seedlings for small amounts of money. I wish there were a way I could report in six months on how my attempt at helping went.

Every season will go silent until every one of us becomes a Rachel Carson. We must only buy organic and speak against the petrochemical apocalypse while we still have the chance.

“We think this is a huge wake-up call,” said Ms. Pelton... A little late for that, Ms. Pelton. Do you know how many "wake-up calls" we've had? In America, we plan on snoozing right through to the last day of existence.

I still get a fair amount on my farm in northern MI. We let all the milkweed grow no matter where it is to help them survive. Unfortunately, they seem to prefer the milkweed in the ditches close to the road where they're frequently run over.

Saw a few monarchs here in Vermont last summer, very few but it was more than the summer before that one. We threw milkweed seeds all around (from local plants, thriving in a nearby field), not sure if it will work but we hope so. We have a tremendous number of yellow swallowtails, pretty to be sure, but the Monarchs are truly a sight to behold, one I hope our grandchildren are able to admire as well.

California's flag carries two.... California grizzly bear (Ursus arctos californicus) Flag gets heavier....more burden of loss due the weight of a butterfly. Perhaps schools statewide can ease the burden, to where the flag and monarchs fly free over the same ground. if enough students can acquire the eggs, raise them through metamorphosis, and release them...hope is in the air.

I live in New Jersey. I have planted the following, which all attract and feed monarch butterflies and other polinators: Milkweed/butterfly weed, dahlias, sunflowers, particularly the Mexican variety, lavender. I deliberately plant pollinator plants. I get lots of bees, many different types. I always have monarch's visit in early fall. Please folks, plant these plants and help our pollinators.

Any "natural" decline in monarch population is being avidly sped up by the perpetrators of the border wall. In February, bulldozers are scheduled to begin plowing through the National Butterfly Center (NBC) along the Rio Grande in Mission, Texas. The border wall will be built along a levee, and 70 percent of the NBC land will eventually be on the other side the wall. Hundreds of thousands of butterflies annually flit through the center’s 100-acre sanctuary on their way to Mexico. By refusing to hear a suit by the Animal Legal Defense Fund and two other organizations against this senseless destruction, the Supreme Court upheld a February 2018 ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel of San Diego in favor of the government. It also let stand an appeals ruling that lets the administration bypass 28 federal laws, most of which protect the environment. Some of the laws that were waived include the Endangered Species Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Environmental activists argue that the wall could lead to the extinction of endangered species such as the ocelot; contamination of drinking water; and destruction of indigenous historical sites.

Can't speak regarding butterflies which I love but was on my patio a day or two ago and saw one or two bees and that was exciting. This in Diego. I have a Hummingbird feeder and it is a delight to see them come which they do every day. The loss of any species to me is far more important than a wall. What will that do for us?

Big Agriculture like every other Big Industry knows it can purchase the legislation it needs to maximize profits very cheaply. Thanks to Citizens United these transactions are protected. CU isn’t going away, at least not anytime soon. Buy shares of Big Ag stock. Most likely a single share buys voting rights. Then, get active. Replace boards and CEOs with people who understand what is going on. Then, take on every other industry that threatens our future the same way. Hear that Big Energy?

Each year the volume of airborne visitors at our local Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach have steadily declined, and short of a miracle, one wonders if they ever will return in great numbers to blanket our seaside eucalyptus trees. In my youth, we would catch butterflies for hours. And today, still residing in farm country with the continuous cocktail of conventional herbicides and pesticides drifting across this county, this chink in the ecosystem remains distressing. Over the past decade, all their winged relatives have all but disappeared. The sky is completely void of miserable flies, mosquitoes, and wasps, with only the pesky moth making an occasional appearance. In addition, various birds that would frequently circle fields and pick off ripening fruit have also vacated the premises. No sparrows in great numbers. No starlings. No ravens. The crow seems like the last holdout, but their numbers are down as well. I’m curious if anyone else has detected a similar occurrence in their region.

This is a tremendous drop (the fraction is 6/7). It reminds me of a quote, usually (incorrectly) attributed to Albert Einstein: “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.” For me, I believe this is simply common sense: We need more pollinators. In May of 2015, President Obama began the "National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators". I would bet the ranch (if I owned one) President Trump is probably unaware of it. His EPA Chief, who was a former Coal Industry Lobbyist and much worse, was also an aide to Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma, who sits on the Environment and Public Works committee and is known as the Senate’s most vocal climate skeptic. Inhofe authored a book on the subject, titled “The Greatest Hoax: How the Global Warming Conspiracy Threatens Your Future.” I searched on the internet for Obama's report (name listed above)and found a link to it quickly; a PDF in The Washington Post). I assume it is easy to find.

We had a milkweed strip planted on one side of the house and a "dahlia bar" that was well-attended in our garden. The fires in California could not have helped matters this year. Maybe instead of "a Wall" we should plant a stand of milkweed and have refugee processing stations instead. After the impeachment.

traveling from as far away as Southern BC and Alberta, perhaps.

To paraphrase Courtney Love: I don't really miss God, but I sure miss butterflies.

People think of insects as unimportant or annoying. But without them we will die. Every part of the biosystem is dying: The oceans, the trees, the birds, the wildlife. We are killing the planet. I could care less about humans but I weep for the innocent animal snd insect life killed by our greed.

Someday our great-grandchildren will look back on this time and say, “how could they not see the consequences of what was happening to plant and animal populations declining massively? How could they not do anything about this back when there was still time? Now it is too late.”

I planted lots of Zinnia's and have Milkweeds in my yard and did get lots of Monarch Butterflies this year. I will plant more butterfly loving plants this year as well.

When I lived in Wisconsin I had a small patch of ground located between a cedar swamp and Ag land that was in CRP (Conservation Reserve Program takes marginal land out of production). I put in 3.5 acres of tall grass prairie. Within 8 years the prairie was considered 100 percent successful. 3 years before I moved, a local farmer bought the Ag land next to me and took it out of CRP. He started planting GMO crops (he had no idea what they were and referred to them as "Round-Up ready). The butterfly and birds HAD been unbelievable. The year I moved the butterflies were non existent. The year before the contract sprayer sprayed in very windy conditions and I lost significant prairie. Local farmers also started hiring air planes to spray. Between the BT that is genetically inserted into the seed and the spraying, the butterflies were gone. We will kill ourselves and everything around us trying to feed the planet with a mono crop GMO. system of agriculture.

This past summer, here in SW in Michigan' i saw zero monarch butter flies. I live on a lake and i keep my large back yard and side yard in a mostly natural state. The past few summers i have seen two or three butterflies. When i moved here forty-three years ago i would see dozens of monarch butterflies. Also the sound of birds singing back then in the early morning was almost deafening. I don't hear that anymore. I miss all of it.

Climate change is a real national (international) emergency. This is yet another reason to vote for Democrats in the upcoming elections. Our lives and the future of the planet depend on having people in government who believe in science.

In Aug. traveled to Cape Gerardo Mo. to observe the eclipse. With farmlands on both sides of I-55.noticeably fewer insects of all kinds hit the windshield, no cleaning required on trip. In past years insects splattered windshield required several cleanings over the 100 miles. Is it Roundup poisoning or what? Seems all insect populations now being decimated including the butterflies! There was 'Silent Spring' now' a 'Silent Summer' is happening!

This is largely the result of wiping out their food source, milkweek, via overwhelming farming and development. It is not just the Monarchs. Virtually all butterfly species have had massive declines and extinctions. When I was a child in Salinas on the coast 55 years ago we had annual swarms of millions of all kinds of butterflies. But, again, massive increase in farming and housing development have wiped out most of the areas where their food plants grow. And It just takes a few areas they count on in migrations to disrupt their migration and lead to massive die-offs. Unless we are willing to put aside tracts of food-rich land spaced out in a way to allow migrations to happen without disruption most butterfly species will go extinct.

While doubtless western monarchs have declined, the article is a bit weak on helping us understand the causes. It points to loss of milkweed acreage due to pesticides and urban development, and additionally harsh weather that has had an impact on monarchs and "ecological devastation among fishing communities and forested towns." Not sure what acreage California had in milkweed in the 1980's but hard to imagine that has been the cause. Also the devastation to fishing communities is definitely unclear as to how this is linked. The article would benefit from a clearer explanation as to the causes, perhaps generalized pesticide use, changing agricultural practices such as intensification or crop switching. If we better understand the cause, we will be in a better position to act. Thanks to the Xerces Society for its continued work!

We need a cultural shift away from lawn pesticides and toward planting our yards with pollinator-friendly and bird-friendly plants. "Properly maintained" lawns are poisonous green deserts. But lawns with native plants have the potential to somewhat offset habitat destruction, and habitat instability caused by climate breakdown. It's time to bring nature closer to us Also, ban current agricultural pesticides that are the main culprit of insect decline, my goodness

We need the political will and unity to ban Roundup, the Monsanto pesticide that's not only killing butterflies but harming ag workers and getting into our drinking water. And the Trump and GOP wall will put the final nail in the coffin of all migrating animals including butterflies. Ironically, the wall will more effectively bar wildlife than people.

“We think this is a huge wake-up call.” No, the wake-up call came in the '80s. This is more like the last rites.

This is a true “state of emergency”...in my area large areas of native plants (including milkweed) are being plowed down by developers. Why can’t the developers save some and create native gardens outside these new buildings? It would be a fine compromise. I have decided to plant as much native milkweed and native nectar sources (the monarchs need good food once they become butterflies) as I can. I learned last year that honeyvine, which just grows in my yard naturally is a kind of milkweed. Fortunately, I let some grow last year (I used to weed it) and it attracted and hosted MANY (10-12) Monarchs as well as beautiful red lady bugs and some other interesting harmless bugs. Let’s not give up on this! These creatures and our natural world are too important!

Thank you for this article, no matter how devastating the news. We need to talk more about these issues, the health of our ecosystems and water, and less about a wall at our southern border. Please everyone, east and west, north and south, plant milkweed in your own yard!

Having seen these beautiful butterflies in both their Mexico and California haunts, this is a tragic loss. To see them layering themselves in trees, & on a warm day, being among those who are flying, these were experiences I'd not trade. Their demise through the destruction of habitat is tragic.

As always, it is important to plant natives in your garden and to encourage your local nursery to stock native plants. This is especially important for milkweeds to sustain Monarchs since, as latest research has shown, planting non-native milkweeds "confuses" the butterflies and can actually encourage them to stick around throughout the year and not complete their migration. While this may be fun for the gardener, it is ultimately detrimental to the survival of the species. https://blog.nwf.org/2015/02/twelve-native-milkweeds-for-monarchs/ A nice tip I was once given is to buy at least six milkweeds for your garden. Any fewer and they will all get eaten by the hungry, hungry caterpillars. I don't know why six is the magic number but it is nice anyway to have more on the table for our hungry friends.

My fantasy: upon becoming President later this year, Pelosi addresses the nation (prime time) announcing major funding initiative to avert a “sixth extinction”

This is very sad news. Even in the California desert I would get a few in my yard. This winter, nothing.

There was another article, perhaps also in the Times, about the declining numbers of insects in general -- the phenomenon of having bugs squashed on your windshield is much rarer these days, because there are far fewer bugs for windshields to squash. These creatures may not seem relevant to our daily lives, but they're absolutely essential to the ecosystem. Their catastrophically plunging numbers are the planet's distress signal, and we ignore it at our peril.

I just visited a park in the Bay Area where they overwinter and the ranger said they could only count 20 Monarchs! There are supposed to be thousands and thousands...scary.