Gray whales and monarch butterflies in Mexico

Posted on May, 08 2014

For four consecutive years, numbers of migratory gray whales are up in the main coastal lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California. Researchers in one lagoon counted 2017 individuals in February compared to 1178 in 2013 – a 44% increase.
For four consecutive years, numbers of migratory gray whales are up in the main coastal lagoons of Mexico’s Baja California. Researchers in one lagoon counted 2017 individuals in February compared to 1178 in 2013 – a 44% increase. Gray whales congregate in the lagoons during the winter breeding season.
Celebrating WWF’s five years partnership with the Carlos Slim Foundation, successes include protection of 300,000 hectares (ha) of priority areas, better management of a further million ha, and reduced logging in the core zone of the monarch butterfly reserve. WWF called for habitat protection along the butterfly migration route across Mexico, US and Canada to protect this natural wonder.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) on flower in the Mindo-Nambillo Reserve at approximately 1500 meters, Andes mountains, western Ecuador
© Kevin Schafer / WWF