Western monarch populations have declined by 99.4% since the 1980's
The western monarch numbers dropped from 192,688 to 28,429 from 2017 to 2018. That's an 86% drop.
Eastern monarch populations have declined by more than 80%
Monarch caterpillars can only eat milkweed
Monarchs have a true, long-distance migration
The western population of monarchs mostly overwinter on the coast of California, but we know that some travel to the overwintering sites in Mexico
A single monarch can fly over 2,000 miles!
In the spring and summer, monarchs only live for a few weeks. These monarchs begin to travel away from the overwintering sites and extend all the way to southern Canada by the end of summer
The 4th generation, or super-generation, is born in the fall and it is these monarchs that will make the migration back to the overwintering sites