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The world’s spectacular animal migrations are dwindling
Fishing, fences and development are fast-tracking extinctions. Migratory species face a greater threat.
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The famous monarch butterfly migrates from the United States to Mexico.
PHOTO: AFP
Richard Fuller, Daniel Dunn and Lily Bentley
In 1875, trillions of Rocky Mountain locusts gathered and began migrating across the western United States in search of food. The enormous swarm covered an area larger than California. Three decades later, these grasshoppers were extinct.
This fate is all too common for migratory species. Their journeys can make them especially vulnerable to hunting or fishing. They may move between countries, meaning protecting the species in one jurisdiction is not enough. And it is hard for us to even know if they are in trouble.
