Not that long ago, a literal carpet of black and orange butterflies would cover part of the U.S. each year as monarchs migrated in search of food. But over the past few decades, the number of these iconic creatures has dropped by 90%, and scientists have been sounding the alarm about their future.
Last month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service began the process to list monarchs as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Canada has already declared the butterflies as endangered.
Emma Pelton, she’s a senior endangered species conservation biologist with the Xerces Society, and she joined Idaho Matters to talk more about monarchs and the proposal to protect them.
