Monarch butterfly may get endangered species protections

The monarch butterfly, whose populations have significantly declined in recent years, may warrant protection as an endangered species, federal officials said.

The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Monday that, in response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity and others, it will conduct a yearlong scientific review into whether the butterfly, native to much of the United States, is endangered.

{mosads}The animal’s migratory flight paths have faced various threats in recent years, the agency said.

“Threats include habitat loss — particularly the loss of milkweed, the monarch caterpillar’s sole food source — and mortality resulting from pesticide use,” the agency said in a statement.

The groups that petitioned for the protection cheered the decision.

“Our petition is a scientific and legal blueprint for creating the protection that the monarch so direly needs, and we are gratified that the agency has now taken this vital first step in a timely fashion,” George Kimbrell, senior attorney for Center for Food Safety, said in a statement.

“We will continue to do everything we can to ensure monarchs are protected.”

The groups blamed the butterfly’s decline on the rise of genetically engineered crops, which has led to increased use of a pesticide that kills milkweed.

They estimated that the insect’s population has dropped to about 35 million last winter, from about 1 billion in the mid-1990s.

At the end of the study process, the wildlife service could propose a listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The listing might subject states and landowners to new restrictions on all manner of activities and developments that could harm the insect or its habitat. Implementing those rules is a separate process from the listing determination.