![]() |
|
NEWS UPDATES ON THE MONARCH BUTTERFLY Further Environmental Threats to the Monarch Butterfly Threat in the South from deforestation Looking-Glass reports on the threat to one of the great wonders of the natural world, the Monarch butterfly. The species is in serious threat of extinction due to deforestation. Every year, tens of millions of monarch butterflies migrate from the United States and Canada to spend the winter on a few remote forest mountains in central Mexico where they huddle together for warmth on the branches of the oyumel trees. In spring they leave, dispersing across North America where they spend the warm summer months before heading south again as the weather turns cold. The round trip is 14,000 kilometres (8,700 miles) and an incredible five generations. The parents pass on genetic maps so the young can navigate their way back to the Mexican oyumel forests. Mexican authorities only have a single generation to stop illegal logging from decimating the few remaining islands of oyumel forest and therefore destroying the Monarch's over-wintering habitats forever. New threat in the North from GM Crops New and additional threats faces the monarch butterfly during their migration to North America. Pollen from gene altered corn appears to be killing the butterflies. Milkweed grows in abundance amongst and around the corn. Pollen from the corn lands on the Milkweed, which is a favorite food of the Monarch. One in five monarch larvae are known to be dying after being exposed to the toxic corn pollen.
This article last updated or added to in: May2002
For more "Animal News" articles please click here For discussion on these issues see GGL's at VeggieGlobal.com
Related
Reading Reference
|
Today's news that effects tomorrow's world shouldn't be forgotten ...
Top Stories
Front Page Looking-Glass & VeggieGlobal are free, non-profit resources also bringing you this animal, environmental and humanitarian news site. Please use CauseClick to reciprocally help this and other good-causes. Thank you.
Breaking headlines from other news sites around the world General
World News
Brought to you through LOOKING-GLASS.TV
Find out more about this News Site Use the search engine at the top of this page if you would like to look for other stories which may be archived on LGVN. Main
Archive Search Visit the LGVN front page for main stories This is a voluntary-based non-profit news site. If it has been useful to you please consider a donation. Thank you. |
|
Where am I? You are currently viewing the news site
which is part of a unique non-profit web retreat. This retreat is designed to help empower and inspire the world to think and act with natural diligence and compassion. If
the free services we provide here are proving useful to you, please make
a donation.
Your generosity will help keep this huge web experience alive, and in
turn help the causes, campaigns and projects we also represent and work
with. |