Monarch butterfly expert Orley “Chip” Taylor says the colorful insect is doing pretty well, all things considered.
Challenges, yes; the monarch has them, in spades. Population numbers are down, the climate is changing, and precious milkweed-rich habitat is getting harder to find.
But Taylor, an 86-year-old emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Kansas, is adamant that the Fish and Wildlife Service should not designate the monarch as threatened or endangered.
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“This butterfly is extremely resilient, is extremely redundant and has great replication possibilities,” Taylor said in an interview. “It does not meet the definition of being a threatened species.”
