Eastern monarch butterfly population doubles in a year
The population of eastern monarch butterflies – who migrate from Canada and the US to Mexico during the winter – has nearly doubled over the last year, according to a recent report commissioned in Mexico, generating optimism among nature preservationists.
The modest growth in numbers for the orange-and-black butterflies follows years of ongoing conservation efforts – and perhaps provides a sliver of optimism after otherwise discouraging long-term trends for the species.
Another recent study found that the butterfly population in the US specifically shrank by 22% over the last two decades. And this past December, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed protecting monarch butterflies as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in response to years of advocacy by conservation groups.
A statement from Jorge Rickards, the director general of Mexico's World Wildlife Fund branch, acknowledged the need to convert the short-term gains into long-term ones for monarch butterflies to stop being considered endangered.
'It's now time to turn this year's increase into a lasting trend with an all-hands approach where governments, landowners, conservationists, and citizens continue to safeguard critical habitats along the monarch's North American migratory route,' the statement said.
The statement said Rickards's organization recognized 'the key role of local communities, as well as the support of the government of Mexico, in … providing this iconic species with the opportunity to thrive'.
The survey, titled Forest Area Occupied by Monarch Butterflies Colonies in Mexico During the 2024-2025 Hibernation Season, serves as a crucial indicator of the overall health of the butterfly population. It is part of a series of annual reports by WWF Mexico and Mexico's National Commission of Protected Natural Areas, in collaboration with local communities.
The report found that monarchs that migrated to central Mexico's forests occupied 4.42 acres (1.78 hectares), which was up from 2.22 acres during the previous winter.
Nonetheless, though these butterflies occupied nearly twice as much forest habitat compared with previous years, the number of monarchs remains far below the long-term average.
Scientists say that better weather conditions in 2024 – which saw less severe droughts compared with previous years along the butterflies' migration route – probably contributed to the population growth.
At the end of summer, eastern monarchs fly together from the northern US and southern Canada to high-elevation fir forests in Mexico. The population size is determined by measuring the area of trees turned a vibrant orange by the clusters of bright butterflies.
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Powys County Times
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Warning over low funding to tackle invasive species damaging British wildlife
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'That's why we are bolstering our national biosecurity with a £200 million investment to set up a new National Biosecurity Centre and just last week announced £10 million of funding for cutting-edge surveillance projects to detect the spread of diseases and non-native species.' An Animal and Plant Health Agency spokesperson said: 'Our teams work hard to tackle the threat of invasive non-native species, which cost the GB economy nearly £2bn a year, and help deliver a seamless border that maintains frictionless trade while protecting biosecurity. 'Members of the public who encounter invasive non-native species should report them following instructions on the Non-Native Species Secretariat website.'
The Herald Scotland
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- The Herald Scotland
Warning over low funding to tackle invasive species damaging British wildlife
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NBC News
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- NBC News
Scientists genetically engineer wolves with white hair like the extinct dire wolf
Three genetically engineered wolves that may resemble extinct dire wolves are trotting, sleeping and howling in an undisclosed secure location in the U.S., according to the company that aims to bring back lost species. The wolf pups, which range in age from three to six months old, have long white hair, muscular jaws and already weigh in at around 80 pounds — on track to reach 140 pounds at maturity, researchers at Colossal Biosciences reported Monday. Dire wolves, which went extinct more than 10,000 years ago, are much larger than gray wolves, their closest living relatives today. Independent scientists said this latest effort doesn't mean dire wolves are coming back to North American grasslands any time soon. 'All you can do now is make something look superficially like something else'— not fully revive extinct species, said Vincent Lynch, a biologist at the University at Buffalo who was not involved in the research. Colossal scientists learned about specific traits that dire wolves possessed by examining ancient DNA from fossils. The researchers studied a 13,000 year-old dire wolf tooth unearthed in Ohio and a 72,000 year-old skull fragment found in Idaho, both part of natural history museum collections. Then the scientists took blood cells from a living gray wolf and used CRISPR to genetically modify them in 20 different sites, said Colossal's chief scientist Beth Shapiro. They transferred that genetic material to an egg cell from a domestic dog. When ready, embryos were transferred to surrogates, also domestic dogs, and 62 days later the genetically engineered pups were born. Colossal has previously announced similar projects to genetically alter cells from living species to create animals resembling extinct woolly mammoth s, dodos and others. Though the pups may physically resemble young dire wolves, 'what they will probably never learn is the finishing move of how to kill a giant elk or a big deer,' because they won't have opportunities to watch and learn from wild dire wolf parents, said Colossal's chief animal care expert Matt James. Colossal also reported Monday that it had cloned four red wolves using blood drawn from wild wolves of the southeastern U.S.'s critically endangered red wolf population. The aim is to bring more genetic diversity into the small population of captive red wolves, which scientists are using to breed and help save the species. This technology may have broader application for conservation of other species because it's less invasive than other techniques to clone animals, said Christopher Preston, a wildlife expert at the University of Montana who was not involved in the research. But it still requires a wild wolf to be sedated for a blood draw and that's no simple feat, he added. Colossal CEO Ben Lamm said the team met with officials from the U.S. Interior Department in late March about the project. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised the work on X on Monday as a 'thrilling new era of scientific wonder' even as outside scientists said there are limitations to restoring the past. 'Whatever ecological function the dire wolf performed before it went extinct, it can't perform those functions' on today's existing landscapes, said Buffalo's Lynch.
