As the group made its way up the rugged mountain path toward the clearing, their heavy, crunching bootsteps turned to near-silent tiptoeing, their friendly chitchat dropped to whispers, giddy smiles appeared on faces and eyes brimmed with tears. The first-time visitors to this mountain monarch butterfly reserve were, in a word, gobsmacked. It’s challenging to...Read More

For years, park rangers and conservationists working around Mexico’s Nevado de Toluca volcano chased rumors of a monarch butterfly colony that wintered high in a forest of oyamel firs in some corner of the 132,000-acre (53,419-hectare) national reserve. Local woodsmen would report seeing some of the butterflies fluttering about and scouting teams would scramble to...Read More

Experts say the population of monarch butterflies wintering in central Mexico is up 144 percent over last year. A Mexican government statement says the butterflies are occupying 14.95 acres (6.05 hectares) in the mountains of Michoacan and Mexico states. That’s an increase from 6.12 acres (2.48 hectares) a year ago. Millions of monarchs migrate from...Read More

The first monarch butterflies have arrived at their wintering grounds in the mountains of central Mexico almost a week later than usual, Mexico’s Environment Department said Wednesday. Millions of monarchs make the 3,400-mile (5,500-kilometer) migration from the United States and Canada each year. The butterflies usually arrive by Mexico’s Nov. 1 Day of the Dead...Read More

Representatives from 23 states in Mexico and civil society organizations participated in a meeting during the Fifth Annual Meeting of the Monarch Butterfly Monitoring National Network. The regional director of the Neo Volcanic Center and Axis of the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas, Gloria Tavera Alonso, highlighted that the migratory phenomenon of Monarch Butterfly...Read More

As the seasons begin to change and colder weather draws closer, people may be starting to see more butterflies in the air around the Big Country. Monarch butterflies have started their migration down south to Mexico and are currently fluttering around the Big Country. During the warmer months of spring and summer, Monarch butterflies are...Read More

The residents and staff of Plymouth Place Senior Living in La Grange Park tagged about 50 monarch butterflies Friday and watched them start their southern migration to Mexico. Before releasing the butterflies, the residents recorded the gender of each butterfly, whether it was raised from a caterpillar or captured in the wild, and the date...Read More

The number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexican forests declined for a second consecutive year, a government official said Monday. Alejandro Del Mazo, Mexico’s commissioner for protected areas, said the monarchs clumped in trees covering about 6.12 acres (2.48 hectares) this winter. That was down about 14.7 percent from the 7.19 acres (2.91 hectares) the...Read More

Scientists from several countries urged Mexican authorities to immediately halt logging in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve and promote the regeneration of the forests that form its habitat, in a published letter in the current edition of the journal Science . In the letter, the scientists indicated that the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) make one...Read More

The governor of the State of Mexico, Alfredo Del Mazo Maza, began the opening of the monarch butterfly sanctuary and endorsed the commitment of his administration to protect and preserve this species and its environment. He noted that the Mexican government is committed to fighting illegal logging in the forests and to promote productive projects...Read More

Monarch butterflies, those delicate symbols of spring and summer, should mostly be in Texas by now, winging their way to Mexico for the winter. But Darlene Burgess keeps seeing colorful clusters of them — and she lives in Canada. “As nice as this is to see, I really wish I wouldn’t see it because they’re...Read More

The number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico dropped by 27 percent this year, reversing last year’s recovery from historically low numbers, according to a study by government and independent experts released Thursday. The experts say the decline could be due to late winter storms last year that blew down more than 100 acres (40...Read More

Mexican environmental authorities say they have closed seven sawmills operating illegally in the monarch forest reserve that serves as the wintering ground for monarch butterflies that migrate to Mexico from the United States and Canada. No logging is permitted in the reserve’s core zone, but loggers have tried to cut trees there in the past....Read More

Storms earlier this year blew down more than a hundred acres of forests where migrating monarch butterflies spend the winter in central Mexico, killing more than 7 percent of the monarchs, experts reported Tuesday. Rain, cold and high winds from the storms caused the loss of 133 acres (54 hectares) of pine and fir trees...Read More

The head of the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat), Rafael Pacchiano Alaman, reiterated his willingness to work with the United States on environmental issues of importance to both nations, especially conservation of the Vaquita Whale and the Monarch Butterfly. During a working visit to Washington, DC, he held a bilateral meeting with Secretary...Read More