The migratory monarch butterfly - Danaus plexippus plexippus - known for its spectacular annual journey of up to 4,000 kilometers across the Americas, has entered the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature ‒IUCN‒ of Threatened Species in the category "In Danger", threatened by the destruction of its habitat and climate change.
The IUCN Red List currently includes 147,517 species, of which 41,459 are threatened with extinction.
“The updated Red List highlights the fragility of nature’s wonders, such as the unique spectacle of monarch butterflies migrating thousands of kilometres,” said Dr Bruno Oberle, IUCN Director General.
“To preserve nature’s rich diversity, we need effective and fairly governed protected and conserved areas, along with decisive action to respond to climate change and restore ecosystems. In turn, biodiversity conservation supports communities by providing essential services such as food, water and sustainable jobs,” she said.
The migratory monarch butterfly, "Endangered", is a subspecies of the monarch butterfly - Danaus plexippus.
The native population, known for its winter migrations from Mexico and California to summer breeding grounds in the United States and Canada, has declined by 22 to 72 percent over the past decade.
Legal and illegal logging and deforestation to make way for agriculture and urban development have already destroyed much of the butterflies' wintering grounds in Mexico and California, while pesticides and herbicides used in intensive agriculture throughout the species' range kill butterflies and milkweed, the host plant on which monarch butterfly larvae feed, the organization said in a statement.
She also highlighted that climate change has significantly impacted the migratory monarch butterfly and constitutes a rapidly growing threat as “drought limits milkweed growth and increases the frequency of catastrophic wildfires, extreme temperatures trigger earlier migrations, before milkweed is available, while severe weather events kill millions of butterflies.”
The western population is at greatest risk of extinction, having declined by an estimated 99.9 percent from 10 million to 1,914 butterflies between the 1980s and 2021. The larger eastern population has also declined by 84 percent between 1996 and 2014, the IUCN said.
In this regard, he noted that there is still concern about whether there are enough butterflies left to maintain populations and prevent extinction.
“It’s heartbreaking to see monarch butterflies and their extraordinary migration teeter on the brink of collapse, but there are signs of hope. Many people and organizations have come together to try to protect this butterfly and its habitats. From planting native milkweed and reducing pesticide use to supporting winter site protection and contributing to community science, we can all play a role in ensuring this iconic insect makes a full recovery,” said Anna Walker, Species Survival Officer at the New Mexico BioPark Society, who led the monarch assessment.
Adding to the news, he said, is the sad evidence that all the remaining species of sturgeon in the northern hemisphere, including migratory species, are being pushed even closer to the brink of the abyss by dams and poaching, which are the most endangered group of animals in the world.
The global reassessment of sturgeons released last week reveals that 100 percent of the world's remaining 26 sturgeon species are now threatened with extinction, up from 85 percent in 2009.
The assessments are based on refined calculations, which show that its decline over the past three generations is steeper than previously thought.
The Yangtze sturgeon – Acipenser dabryanus – has been downlisted from Critically Endangered to Extinct in the Wild, with 17 species now Critically Endangered, three Endangered and five Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. The reassessment has also confirmed the extinction of the Chinese paddlefish – Psephurus gladius.
Famous for their size, with the Critically Endangered beluga whale – Huso huso – able to grow up to eight metres and weigh up to 1,700 kilograms, sturgeons have been overexploited for their meat and caviar for centuries.
Despite being protected under international law, poaching continues to affect more than half of these species, and stricter enforcement of regulations on the illegal sale of sturgeon meat and caviar is critical to halting further declines.
Dams affect all sturgeon species migrating to their breeding grounds, while warming rivers due to climate change further disrupt the reproduction of these fish. Restoring freshwater ecosystems and building effective fish passages, along with restocking, which has already proven effective for species such as the Critically Endangered Adriatic sturgeon – Acipenser naccarii – are key measures to support the long-term survival of the world’s sturgeons.
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