This year the organization counted 9,119 monarchs, the second-lowest total since tracking began in 1997. The organization has recorded more than 200,000 monarchs in each of the last three years.

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 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.

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.

The count estimated a winter population of 9,119 monarchs this year as climate change, habitat loss, pesticides and disease contributed to the near record-low. These numbers are only slightly above the all-time low of less than 2,

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

The results of the 28 annual mid-season Western Monarch Count have been released: only 9,119 of the butterflies were counted during the time the overwintering population is usually at its peak. This represents the second-lowest number since the count began,