CLARENCE, N.Y. — The monarch is what most people imagine when they think of butterflies.

Scientists are worried that monarchs might not stick around much longer if things don't change.

David O’Donnell owns the Eastern Monarch Butterfly Farm and has always loved nature. His passion for monarch butterflies started right in Clarence. Now, 20 years later he’s still raising monarch butterflies. 

He says 95% of monarch caterpillars will die in the wild in the United States. The insect’s population is on the downfall. 

In July, the migratory monarch butterfly, known for traveling from Mexico to California, has officially been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s red list and has been categorized as endangered. 

"It’s a list that they put out to let people know, and it’s a good thing, to let people know what is disappearing," said O’Donnell. "There’s a lot of things that are disappearing."

According to IUCN, the western population of migratory monarch butterflies has shrunk by 99.9% from the 1980s to last year, while the eastern population has shrunk by 84% from 1996-2014. David says the monarch butterfly population is decreasing because of humans.

"We have biologically polluted, air pollution, pesticides, too many lawn chemicals and climate change is a major factor," O’Donnell said.

He says monarch caterpillars in general don’t like high humidity and high temperatures, which can cause them to catch a lot of diseases. Their food source is also impacted. Monarch caterpillars only munch on milkweed and monarch butterflies only lay their eggs on milkweed. Droughts can affect milkweed growth, while hotter temperatures can trigger migration before the plant is available. 

"Agricultural is a big problem because out in the midwest there is huge areas of milkweed that’s being converted to soybean, cornfields, a lot of GMO which use pesticides," said O’Donnell.

David says the IUCN’s list is different than the Endangered Species Act here in the U.S. The law protects at-risk species from extinction. It also protects their habitat from destruction. He says the monarchs were petitioned to be on the Endangered Species Act list, but scientists didn’t find it warranted at that time. 

David says the law is a good thing but there could be a caveat. He’s concerned that if the insects do become one of the animals listed under the law, there may be negative side effects if people are not allowed to handle anything that has to do with monarchs. 

"[A] lot of milkweed happens to grow in agricultural fields and I could see maybe a farmer destroying milkweed before anybody sees it because it would make their land unusable if it was monarch habitat," O’Donnell said. "This isn’t all for sure because we haven’t seen the rules."

David is optimistic that the migratory monarch butterfly will remain not listed under the Endangered Species Act because people are doing their part to help the insect.

"I feel it moving in the right direction," O’Donnell said. "I’ve engaged over 20 years… thousands of people. What they’re doing is getting outside, they’re looking for monarch eggs on the milkweed, they’re planting other native plants."

You can find out how to help your local butterflies by clicking here.