In 2022, the population of western monarch butterflies reached its highest number in decades, 335,000, according to the annual Western Monarch Count in California and Arizona, marking the second year in a row for a positive tally of the species numbers.

While that count is celebrated by conservationists, they also point to the need to protect monarchs' overwintering sites in North America, which continue to suffer degradation and destruction each year.

Read the popular article by Liz Kimbrough here: Western monarch populations reach highest number in decades

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Image caption: A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus). Image by John Banks via Pexels (Public domain).

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