March 8, 2018

This winter's population was down 15% from last year, and 60% below historic averages. This year's official population estimate is 124 million monarchs, compared to a long-term average of 300 million and a peak of 1 billion. The clustering butterflies covered 2.48 hectares of forest compared to a peak of 18 hectares in 1996 and an average of 6 hectares. A population of 6 hectares is the target for monarch recovery.