Wildlife

In face of climate change, butterfly populations continue to plummet

Scientists say butterfly populations throughout the western U.S. have been dropping dramatically over the last two decades — a consequence of habitat degradation, pesticide use and intense wildfires linked to climate change.

Early data from the annual Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count, led by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, shows that the monarch population has fallen to another record low — fewer than 10,000 monarchs compared with millions during the 1980s and 300,000 just five years ago.

The butterflies have become so scarce that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is now deciding whether to list the monarchs as part of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Pygmy Possum Discovered on Kangaroo Island After Wildfires.

A tiny pygmy possum has been discovered on Kangaroo Island, despite wildlife experts fearing they had been wiped out during last summer’s bushfires.

The 2019/20 bushfires savaged the South Australian island in January, destroying huge swathes of Flinders National Park.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/37HiMF9