× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Study shows drop in Monarch numbers

The recent study by the Mexican government released on Feb. 9 found the monarch butterfly population wintering in Mexico dropped by 27 percent this year, returning its population to historically low levels.

Roughly 40 percent of all butterflies that overwinter in Mexico are estimated to come from the Midwest, and Iowa is at the center. Work to reverse this trend by improving monarch reproduction and survival has been underway in Iowa for the past few years. This effort became more formalized with the creation of the Iowa Monarch Conservation Consortium in 2015.

“We didn’t get to this point overnight and we are not going to solve it overnight. We have a really strong group across many different backgrounds working together to improve the outlook for the monarch in Iowa and beyond,” said Chuck Gipp, director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.