Our monarch butterflies are disappearing.
Learn:
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Protect:
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Preserve:
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Greater than 99% Population Decline
Between the 1980s and 2020 the western monarch butterfly population has decline by more than 99%. In 2019, the population declined to the quasi-extinction threshold which means that the risk of extinction is 72% in 20 years and 86% in 50 years. |
The 8 Main Reasons for the Population Decline
7 out of the 8 main reasons for the severe decline in the western monarch population are a direct result of humans impact on the environment. It is up to us to learn how to protect this specie. |
5 Generations
We have to preserve their wintering habitat along with their migratory route habitats. It takes 5 generations of monarchs to make the round trip migration route each year, which can be over 6,000 miles, so that they can return to the same clump of trees! Monarchs caterpillars ONLY eat milkweed making it essential along their migration routes to survive. Check out some fun Migration Route Trivia! |
Now let's Learn
About the Monarch Butterfly
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IT'S UP TO US
Change and Protect
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Thanks for taking using this web site. It was created as a Girl Scout Gold Award project to help educate students,families, and the community about monarch butterflies. Monarchs migrate through Utah and we can be apart of the solutions to help them recover.
I’m a girl who loves the out-of-doors so what can I say – I love butterflies!
I was born in Monterey, CA which is home to Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Monarch butterflies have been a part of my life since I was about 1 month old I've had the fun of growing butterflies from eggs, watching them grown into caterpillars, hook onto a surface to create a chrysalis, complete their metamorphosis into a butterfly, and then release them to glide effortlessly way on their journey. Click on this link for a stunning video of a Monarch's metamorphosis.
I’m a girl who loves the out-of-doors so what can I say – I love butterflies!
I was born in Monterey, CA which is home to Pacific Grove Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary. Monarch butterflies have been a part of my life since I was about 1 month old I've had the fun of growing butterflies from eggs, watching them grown into caterpillars, hook onto a surface to create a chrysalis, complete their metamorphosis into a butterfly, and then release them to glide effortlessly way on their journey. Click on this link for a stunning video of a Monarch's metamorphosis.
Like most, I have heard many times that our pollinators in general have been having population declines. I have seen fewer butterflies, to the point that sometimes I really have to search for a butterfly when I’ve been back to visit the sanctuary. I have also seen fewer monarchs gliding on the wind around my home here in Utah. The extent of the problem was overwhelming when I started to learn more and revisited the sanctuary this last fall: between the 1980's, when they first started counting the monarch populations, and the 2018-2019 winter population count it was found that the western monarch population declined more than 99%! As of the monarch Thanksgiving monarch count in 2022 their population has increased. However, the threat to losing them is all to real and we need to learn about monarchs and how to protect them.
I hadn't realized how significant a decline the monarch butterfly population has had until I started doing research as to what I wanted to do for my Girl Scout Gold Award project. To have a project qualify as a Gold Award Project you have to find something that has both a local and a national/international issue to address, find a way to impact that issue that is sustainable beyond the initial project that you do, and you have to put in a minimum of 80 hours towards completing the project. I decided that I wanted to create an educational program for students and the community by providing topic specific information and lots of different ideas for teachers to use in the classroom. Utah is a part of the western monarch migration path and can help play a role in creating a sustainable future for these magnificent butterflies. I wanted to make sure to highlight Utah in some of the educational activities that I worked on so that teachers can make those connection in the classroom to help highlight that this is relevant right here in our backyards.