The iconic and much beloved orange and black Monarch butterfly was added to the “red list” or classified as endangered on Thursday by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Scientists say its population has declined by as much as 84% from 1996 and 2021.
Stuart Pimm, an ecologist at Duke University who was not involved in the new endangered listing, called the news devastating, according to a report by NPR.
Why it matters: Monarch butterflies are pollinators, key to plant life. But they need milkweed to thrive and milkweed is typically viewed as a nuisance by both residential households and farmers.
Lincoln Brower, a leading entomologist at Sweet Briar College in Virginia, wrote that “the migration is definitely proving to be an endangered biological phenomenon.”
“The main culprit is now GMO herbicide-resistant corn and soybean crops and herbicides in the USA,” which “leads to the wholesale killing of the monarch’s principal food plant, common milkweed,” Brower wrote in an email reported by The Associated Press.
Related: “Lightning bug populations are dimming. Here’s what we can do about it”
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