MILLIONS OF MONARCHS FLUTTER TO MEXICO FOR WINTER.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Some 110 million monarch butterflies have completed a 1,900-mile journey to western Mexico from the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and Canada, the official Mexican news agency reported Thursday. The report quoted authorities of Mexico's National Ecology Institute as saying the butterflies were finishing up their annual trek to their wintering grounds in the rugged mountains Rugged Mountain is the apex of the Haihte Range on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. From it, several glaciers, Nootka Sound, Woss Lake and the Tlupana Range are in view. of western Michoacan state. The butterflies make the migration in about 25 days each year, streaming in from the northern United States The Northern United States is a large geographic region of the United States of America. Although the region includes a considerable portion of what is often called the American Midwest, most Americans refer to the region as simply "The North". and southern Canada. The National Ecology Institute was quoted as saying as many as 7 percent of the butterflies died last year, which saw unusually cold and snowy weather in their mountainous wintering grounds in Mexico. Authorities for years have protected the monarchs on reserves set up in the mountains about 100 miles northwest of Mexico City Mexico City Spanish Ciudad de México City (pop., 2000: city, 8,605,239; 2003 metro. area est., 18,660,000), capital of Mexico. Located at an elevation of 7,350 ft (2,240 m), it is officially coterminous with the Federal District, which occupies 571 sq mi . Monarch butterflies are migrants that hatch in the north into caterpillars, later becoming butterflies. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion