The Troubles and Mysteries of the Western Monarch Butterfly

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2021

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The Western monarch butterfly population has fallen by 99% since the 1980’s largely due to pesticide use and habitat loss. And the butterflies that have survived are changing their behavior in unexpected ways, remaining in the Bay Area over the winter instead of heading to the California coast from October to March. In response, conservation groups like Oakland’s Pollinator Posse are working to restore habitats by planting native milkweed. We’ll discuss why important pollinators are disappearing and what can be done about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
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1:00.0	From KQED.
1:02.0	From KQED Public Radio in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:16.0	It is Insect Week and National Pollinator Week, and the first week of the buzzing, humming summer months.
1:22.5	So today on Forum, we're talking about monarch butterflies, the milkweed plants that sustain them, and other local
1:28.4	pollinators. Western monarchs, like far too many insects, are in trouble. An astonishing number of
1:34.1	species are declining or already extinct. We'll tell you why scientists think this is happening,
1:38.7	what's up with our monarchs, and how you can help preserve these beautiful creatures and their
1:43.2	ugly cousins too.
1:44.7	Then at 940, we'll talk about the burgeoning creative Taiwanese food scene here in the Bay Area with our own Luke Tsai.
1:51.2	That's all next on Forum after this news.
2:04.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. The Western Monarch butterfly population has fallen by 99% since the 1980s, largely due to pesticide use and habitat
	...

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