Failing monarchs passed over for protection
lmtribune.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lmtribune.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
As Monarch Butterflies Flutter Toward Extinction, Fish and Wildlife Service Opts Not to Protect Them
chronline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chronline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Despite being perilously close to extinction, monarch butterflies will not receive federal protection because 161 other species are a higher priority, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday.
“We conducted an intensive, thorough review using a rigorous, transparent science-based process and found that the monarch meets listing criteria under the Endangered Species Act. However, before we can propose listing, we must focus resources on our higher-priority listing actions,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Aurelia Skipwith in a news release.
The announcement highlights the severity of the ongoing extinction crisis, said Sarina Jepsen, the director of endangered species and aquatic programs for the Portland-based Xerces Society. The Xerces Society is a nonprofit environmental organization that focuses on the conservation of invertebrates. It is named after the first butterfly to go extinct due to human activity in North America.