Monarch butterfly classified as endangered species

Photo: Andrew Yi

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has added the migratory monarch butterfly to the IUCN Red List as an endangered species. The IUCN Red List is classified into the following 9 categories:

According to databymy.com

After years of population declines due to habitat destruction, climate change, and pesticide use, the iconic orange butterflies are now nearing extinction. We thought it would be interesting to visualize how many butterflies are left.

This graph shows the population of western monarch butterflies by year, according to the Xerces Society yearly count. Despite eastern and western populations having different migration destinations, the pattern is clear: their populations are declining, and fast.