Our Latest News: Monarch overwintering numbers remain low in the West despite increased conservation efforts

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. Check out our latest feature: Monarch overwintering numbers remain low in the West despite increased conservation efforts A solitary monarch in Goleta Butterfly Grove in Goleta, Calif. Recent monarch population estimates are a mere fraction of the 1.2 million monarchs recorded annually in the late 1990s. Overwintering sites like Natural Bridges and Pismo Beach, known for breathtaking displays of monarchs, experienced lower population numbers this year. Credit: Lisa Hupp/USFWS   By Joanna Gilkeson February 15, 2017 Monarch butterflies are an astonishing insect, especially in the winter. They migrate to Mexico and the coast of California, form dense clusters high up in the trees and hunker down until spring. In 1997, a few scientists and volunteers in California, inspired by these orange and black clusters, began an organized effort to estimate the number of butterflies wintering along the central California coast, and the Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count was born. This year's population estimate, released Feb. 8, indicates that monarch butterflies have not rebounded. The number of monarchs counted this year was slightly greater than last year, but so was the army of volunteers. More than 100 volunteers monitored a record 253 sites, the single greatest effort since the count began in 1997. Despite the large effort to count monarchs, numbers were down at many of the historically large sites. The increase in reported monarchs is likely due to increased volunteer participation.  Continue to full story... Stay Connected with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region     This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region · 2800 Cottage Way · Suite W-2606 · Sacramento, CA 95825