By Mila Dorsey, age 10
Monarch butterflies are now endangered, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Scientists predict that monarch butterfly populations have decreased by between 20 to 90% in the last few decades.
Monarch caterpillars only eat one kind of plant called milkweed. Milkweed growth has reduced due to rising temperatures, which cause more droughts. Milkweed is also being negatively affected by chemicals found in herbicides which are used on plants and crops.
Monarchs are very important for our ecosystem because they are pollinators. This means they carry pollen from flower to flower, which helps the flowers grow. But we can still save monarchs! We can all try to save these beautiful insects by growing more milkweed and reducing the number of herbicides we put on plants. Now let’s save our monarchs!
