The number of monarch butterflies spending winter in the western U.S. dropped dramatically this year, despite moves to extend protections for the insect.

The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States dropped dramatically this year even as federal officials move to extend protections for the beloved pollinator.

The number of monarch butterflies in California is in sharp decline this year. This is the second-lowest population recording since tracking began in 1997. Biologists say record-high late summer temperatures and drought in the West likely contributed to the dropoff.

This winter, volunteers from the Xerces Society, a nonprofit environmental group, tallied just 9,119 western monarchs — a dramatic 95% plunge and the second-lowest recording since the count first

Thogmartin and other researchers have evaluated more than 200 scenarios for restoring greater than 1.3 billion stems of milkweed to rebuild their population. Without substantial participation from agriculture, efforts are not enough to restore their numbers because farm lands make up 77 percent of all potential habitat.

Once, millions of monarchs wintered in California. But climate change, habitat loss, widespread pesticide use and disease have dwindled their numbers down into the thousands. Experts predict if action isn’t taken to preserve the butterflies, there is a 95% chance they’ll be extinct by 2080.

The Western population of the monarch butterfly hit a near-record low with fewer than 10,000 found living in California this winter, a foreboding sign.

Scientists are grappling with a stark population decline of the western monarch butterfly after the species’ numbers hit a near all-time low.

The number of monarch butterflies spending the winter in the western United States has dropped to its second-lowest mark in nearly three decades as pesticides, diminishing habitat and climate change take their toll on the beloved pollinator.

The Western population of the monarch butterfly has declined to a near-record low with fewer than 10,000 found living in California this winter, a foreboding sign for the future of the beloved black-and-orange insect.