Passionate about monarch butterflies? Mercy from the Monarch Joint Venture, Pollinator Working Group lead, shares a few updates as we head into the new year. They have an amazing 2026 planned so stay tuned!
Lunch and Learn Series
They plan to launch a 2026 Lunch and Learn series featuring the Monarch Project Partners and all the great work that Monarch Joint Venture has done together. The sessions will be held every Tuesday starting January 13th at 12 CST. They want this to be a space for Defense staff to discuss issues and lessons learned as well so there will always have time for questions and discussion.
Monarch Radio Tags
The Monarch Defense team deployed the new radio tags in this season. Mercy will be preparing a short overview of the methods, early observations, and lessons learned that may be useful for installations. We hope to have a webinar session focusing on the tags. Here are the articles that discuss the project.
- New York Times, We Can Now Track Individual Monarch Butterflies. It’s a Revelation.
- Monarch Joint Venture Blog, Revolutionary tracking study follows monarch butterflies to Mexico using groundbreaking technology and continent-wide collaboration
Monarch Listing Decision Update
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced a delay in the final Endangered Species Act listing decision for the monarch butterfly. While the species remains a candidate, this extended timeline highlights the importance of continuing proactive conservation and monitoring efforts. For additional context, this AP News article provides a helpful overview of the current delay.