More on the Monarch poisoning hoax

[Paul Cherubini]

MONARCH MYSTERY SOLVED:  BUTTERFLIES DIED NATURALLY 
FROM COLD, HUMIDITY, REPORT SAYS

BY  CHARLIE FIDELMAN SOURCE     The Montreal Gazette

 What happened to the monarch butterflies?    Did Mexican loggers intentionally 
poison more than 22 million of  the bright orange-and-black butterflies that migrate
 annually from...   Canada to Mexico?    Not according to a 40-page report released
 yesterday in Ottawa at  the trilateral commission on wildlife and ecosystem 
conservation and   management annual meeting.   ``The deaths were natural,'' 
said Diana Ponce-Nava, deputy attorney   for Profepa, the law-enforcement branch
of Mexico's federal   environment and natural resources department.      The report 
concluded sub-zero temperatures and high humidity killed  2.5 million butterflies, 
far below the initial 22 million reported.      The government watchdog group also
disputed allegations that an * entire colony of butterflies was wiped out at the San 
Andres Hill, a  site located outside the butterfly sanctuary.  ``Only 326,000
butterflies died in San Andres, little more than one  per cent'' of a total population
of 28 million butterflies roosting   in 12 different sites, she said.   ``Deforestation
may have had an impact. Less trees means more...  exposure to the elements,'' she 
said. ``But we found no evidence of   any intentional killing.''

 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl