On Tuesday, the Xerces Society announced the final tally of the western monarch's annual Thanksgiving count. According to the Xerces Society, 247,237 monarch butterflies were observed across the West which amounts to more than a 100-fold increase from 2020 which saw fewer than 2,000 monarchs. This year's number is the largest total since 2016 and is the single biggest year increase ever recorded. “We’re ecstatic with the results and hope this trend continues,” said Emma Pelton, the Western Monarch Lead with the Xerces Society.In Pacific Grove, the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary reported 14,000 butterflies this year. The year before they saw zero. This was the area's best monarch count in five years. In addition, monarchs were found starting near Santa Cruz, with over 1,000 at both Natural Bridges State Park and Moran LakeThe Xerces Society noted that while the 2021 tallies are exciting news, the western monarchs have undergone a significant decline since the 1980s, losing more than 95% of their population.

Nearly 1,500 miles from Mexico, workers at the Jester Park Nature Center in Grainger, Iowa, found a monarch butterfly that needed to hitch a ride if it wanted to make it through the winter.

They decided to wing it and ask for help on Facebook to get the insect to a warmer climate.

But they didn't expect anyone to answer the call.

"I couldn't say no," said Patty Loving who has helped to raise and release many monarch butterflies before relocating to Iowa from Texas.

She found a fascination with the insect as many of them could be found in her yard when she lived in the Lone Star state.

She also wanted to help them because their populations in the wild are decreasing.

When she saw the Facebook post, she knew just what to do.

"I'm going to Texas tomorrow and it's just perfect. And I contacted the people at Southwest Airlines and they said 'yes,'" Loving said.

"Yeah, we're pretty excited about our little butterfly getting a chance for survival she otherwise wouldn't have had," excitedly shared Patrice Petersen-Keys with the nature center.

Petersen-Keys helped to keep the butterfly in good health once they found it.

She shares this trip could mean a lot for the species.

"We need to do something to help them," Petersen-Keys said. "And this is kind of one of those little feel-good things to say, hey, if this little monarch butterfly can make it to Mexico, we can all rally behind it and feel good about that."

To transfer the butterfly is pretty easy.

Conservationists just placed it in an envelope with her wings spread and then placed that into a sealed container inside a cooler.

That cooler will have an ice pack in it that will help relax her until she's able to be released.

"Once you see the miracle of how it transitions from a worm to a chrysalis and then you witness how it comes out of the chrysalis and it does this amazing dance and it's a beautiful butterfly. You can never stop," Loving said.

Watch the full story in the video above.