In 2014, the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety as co-lead petitioners joined by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation and Dr. Lincoln Brower petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the monarch butterfly as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. The petitioners suggested that the Service adopt a “4(d) rule” to allow citizens, educators, and scientists to continue to handle monarch caterpillars and butterflies even if the monarch becomes a protected species.
This fact sheet explains the 4(d) rule and how we suggest monarch butterflies and caterpillars continue to be handled by educators, citizens, and scientists if protected under the Endangered Species Act.