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--></style></head><body lang="EN-US" link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class="WordSection1"><p class="MsoNormal">Hi everyone,</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The Western Monarch Thanksgiving Count (WMTC) has been done annually for the last two decades. We’re still completing the count for this year, but preliminary results show disturbingly low numbers of monarch butterflies overwintering in California. </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">The count results that we have from 97 sites show only 20,456 monarchs. In case you’re thinking “wait, why say anything now before you have all the data”, it’s worth noting that the sites already reported include many of the most important overwintering groves and combined host the majority of monarchs overwintering in California. In 2017, these sites hosted approximately 148,000 butterflies, more than three quarters of the total monarch overwintering population. The 2018 numbers represents an 86% decline from last year—which was already a low population year.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">We were not expecting this to be a great year because we knew it had been a rough season in the breeding and migratory range, but it’s looking worse than anyone had expected. If the rest of the Thanksgiving Count data show the same trend as these sites, we anticipate seeing less than 30,000 butterflies overwintering in California this winter. In comparison, last year there were more than 192,000 butterflies counted; in 1997, it was estimated that more than 1 million overwintered; and research suggest that there were at least 4.5 million monarchs overwintering in California in the 1980s.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">To read more about the count and what may be causing this abrupt fall in numbers, please see an article on our blog, <a href="https://xerces.org/2018/11/29/critically-low-monarch-population-in-california/">Early Thanksgiving Counts Show a Critically Low Monarch Population in California</a> (<a href="https://xerces.org/2018/11/29/critically-low-monarch-population-in-california/">https://xerces.org/2018/11/29/critically-low-monarch-population-in-california/</a>). </p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Thanks!</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">Matthew</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">----------</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Matthew Shepherd</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Director of Communications & Outreach</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><img border="0" width="160" height="60" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D488A4.55BD9950" alt="Email-Outlook_Xerces-logo-CMYK"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Protecting the Life That Sustains Us</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Connect with us @xercessociety on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/xerces.society/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Facebook</span></a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/xercessociety" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Twitter</span></a>, and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/xercessociety/?hl=en" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">Instagram</span></a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Read our <a href="http://www.xerces.org/blog/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">blog</span></a>, sign up for our <a href="https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001HTk7N6nZumLPinBr8VACbNdTXCe732bGu6KpqC13JAKPti_HBe5xyr7t0p4mDfKe2dOsd-TB1qvv772s6GQfVa_SbKKfwBiwl4blH4KvCjq4dpmA2M9UNZ2axlQwu_1Gvjrl2Rb53WUZwsddwCzyorgxedLAaMy3" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">e-newsletter</span></a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Check out the resources at <a href="http://www.xerces.org/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">www.xerces.org</span></a> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Support our work: <a href="https://xerces.org/donate/"><span style="color:blue">Donate</span></a>!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">628 NE Broadway, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97232, USA</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Office: (503) 232-6639 x110</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Cell: (503) 807-1577</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><a href="mailto:matthew.shepherd@xerces.org" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">matthew.shepherd@xerces.org</span></a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p></div></body></html>