The monarch butterfly is threatened with extinction, but will not come under federal protection because other species are a higher priority, federal officials announced Tuesday. Monarchs have long captured human hearts, fluttering through yards, parks and fields on wings that look like miniature works of art. But their numbers have been decimated by climate-change-fueled weather events and pervasive habitat loss in the United States. “We conducted an intensive, thorough review using a rigorous, transparent science-based process and found that the monarch meets listing criteria under the Endangered Species Act,” Aurelia Skipwith, the director of the U.S. Across the Rocky Mountains, Western monarchs have seen an even more alarming drop.

Source: New York Times December 15, 2020 17:52 UTC