Wildlife

Monarchs May Be Coming Back From the Brink

North America’s iconic monarch butterflies could quadruple in numbers this year, thanks to joint conservation efforts by Canada, the United States and Mexico.

Populations of the orange-and-black insects plunged almost 90 percent two years ago, reaching only 35 million compared with a peak of about 1 billion during the 1990s.

The destruction of milkweed by agriculture was the main cause of the decline.

The migrating monarchs are currently wintering on only a few acres of pine-and-fir forest of Mexico’s Michoacán state.

They will remain there until beginning a spring migration that will take them across the eastern half of the United States and into Canada by next summer.

Officials count the wintering monarchs by the area that they cover, not their individual numbers.

The insect occupied only 2.8 acres of forest last winter, better than during 2013-2014 when the population hit an all-time low of 1.66 acres.

Conservationists say the goal is to reach almost 15 acres by 2020. This compares to a high of nearly 47 acres in 1996-1997.