Monarchs In The News
This week, there was an announcement made concerning monarch butterflies that has caused a great deal of consternation among those who did not read the entire article. They are under the impression that we are no longer allowed to raise monarchs because of their new status.
Yes, The International Union for the Conservation of Nature has red listed the monarch as an endangered species. If this was a status designated by the United States, then we would not be allowed to continue to raise monarchs, but it is not. Since this was an international group, the status is not applicable here, although many people feel that it should be. While monarch numbers were up by about 30% in the last count, that number may well be a natural deviation that will reverse itself this year or some other year. One year does not make a trend. Overall, I’ve been seeing lots of comments from monarch folks saying that their local numbers seem to be way down or that they haven’t seen any at all this summer. I don’t know what is going to happen here, as our season doesn’t usually start until mid to late August.
In the meantime, we wait and hope.
