Dartmoor Zoo Reintroduces Butterflies Extinct in UK
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- Dartmoor Zoo is working to reintroduce black-veined white butterflies, a species officially extinct in Britain since 1925, with breeding partners Knepp Rewilding, Royal Holloway University, and Butterfly Conservation.
- Nine female butterflies arrived from Normandy, France on Tuesday, and one laid a batch of eggs within 10 minutes of arrival, according to the zoo.
- Black-veined white butterflies were first listed as a British species during the reign of King Charles II and vanished partly due to increased pesticide use and removal of native hedgerows after World War One.
- CEO Dr. David Gibson called the UK "one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world" and argued that pollinator recovery is as important as reintroducing pine martens, lynx, or wolves.
- Sightings of black-veined whites were recorded on hawthorn and blackthorn trees on the edge of London in June 2023, raising hopes for natural recolonization alongside the captive breeding effort.
- Butterflies from the breeding programme could be released at a designated site in east Devon as soon as next summer, Gibson said.
Why it matters: The reintroduction puts a concrete timeline on reversing a 100-year local extinction: nine founder butterflies from France are now breeding at Dartmoor, with a potential east Devon release as soon as summer 2026. Gibson frames pollinator recovery as foundational to UK food systems, signaling that the zoo's partners — including Knepp Rewilding — are treating this as a template for broader rewilding efforts in one of Europe's most nature-depleted countries.
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