Back to News Update

December Counts
Every December, scientists measure the surface area of the monarch's overwintering colonies in Mexico. This chart shows the data collected over the past 18 years. What do you predict this year's population will be?

Monarch Butterfly Population Estimate: Winter 2011-2012

Did You Know?
A monarch colony contains 10-50 million butterflies in 1 hectare of forest.
You can estimate how many millions of monarchs were in each winter's population.