Monarchs by the million in Mexico Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 5:32 pm, Friday, March 1, 2013 ZITACUARO, Mexico — He found the love of his life 2,000 miles from home in a chance encounter that gave him butterflies, and she moved west to be with him. Never mind that the stunning monarch butterfly sanctuary was in an area of Central Mexico contested by drug cartels. [...] every year, millions of monarchs migrate from the eastern United States and Canada to Central Mexico, a journey of 2,000 miles and more into a wooded land under attack by loggers in a region bloodied by drug traffickers. Come February, they start to awaken in the warm sun, turn glittering somersaults in search of their mates, and begin to couple. There didn't appear to be other foreigners making the bus trip, a two-hour ride out the Toluca highway and along winding country roads. [...] it seemed the tourist pool was made up of expats, old Mexico hands and adventurers who consider witnessing the miracle of the monarch butterfly migration essential travel. Experts say the numbers of monarchs have been dwindling because of logging, insecticide use and other environmental pressures. Recalling his romantic proposal, Goldberger said she remembers running to Skipton for the picture when “all of the sudden he was down on one knee.”