(Monarch butterfly) Wonder of nature under threat from illegal logging - Observer

Source: The Observer

Wonder of nature under threat from illegal logging

Juliette Jowit and Javier Espinoza
Sunday June 17, 2007
The Observer

One of the world's greatest wildlife spectacles is under threat
because environmental projects to protect the monarch
butterfly are failing, a leading expert has warned.

The flight of clouds consisting of millions of the orange and
black butterflies migrating thousands of miles across North
America to the mountains of Mexico is considered one of the
great natural wonders of the world.

Scientists have warned for years that the butterflies are under
threat because genetically modified crops are destroying the
weeds and flowers they feed on and lay eggs in, and illegal
logging is decimating their winter habitat high in the Mexican
mountains.

Professor Lincoln Brower, who has been studying the species
for more than half a century, claims a Mexican government
scheme to protect the forests where the butterflies spend
the winter is failing. He will visit Britain later this month
to draw attention to the problems he has observed. 'The
illegal logging has not only accelerated; it has become a lot
more intense, with dozens, up to hundreds, of people involved
in big logging operations,' he told The Observer.

-snip-

Read more: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,2104850,00.html

I used to see them every spring and summer as a kid, but I can't really recall seeing them anytime recently.

I'm not sure why it would surprise people, though. All the open fields I knew as a kid are now gated communities and strip malls. As urbanization increases, the wildlife population decreases. This is a pretty tightly-bound correlation. As we continue to 'develop' open land, we'll continue to see the native wildlife populations decline.

We are supposed to be the caretakers of the planet, and all we're really doing is draining it of Beauty and Quality.

Some caretakers. :eyes: