2024 protection is 'too long' for monarch butterflies 'I am grateful that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes that the species warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act' Author: Apr 9, 2021 A monarch butterfly pollinates a flower at the Pismo Beach Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach, California. (Photo by Leo Tochterman/Cronkite News) 'I am grateful that the Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes that the species warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act' Danya Gainor Cronkite News PHOENIX – The number of western monarch butterflies is declining alarmingly, which prompted a push to add the butterfly to the endangered species list in 2014. But after four years of review, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that although the monarch butterfly warrants protection, dozens of other species face more urgent situations and have a higher priority.