An endangered species of butterfly is to be reintroduced to the wild Thursday, after a six-year effort by a private entomologist to rescue it from the brink of extinction.

Lee Kang-woon, head of Holoce Ecosystem Conservation Research Institution, will release 20 pairs of red-spotted Apollo butterflies to one of their few known habitats, located in Samcheok, Gangwon Province.

It will be the second batch of the rare butterflies, captive-bred by Lee, to be reintroduced to their natural habitat, following 10 pairs last year.

“Captive-breeding and reintroduction of the red-dotted looks like a success,” said Lee, who started the project in 2006 with two butterflies he captured in the Samcheok area.

According to environmental authorities, the number of the butterflies spotted in the area rose to 133 last month from 57 a year ago, a sign that the first batch had successfully re-established itself in the wild.

The red-dotted Apollo was once widespread throughout Korea, with populations extending all the way up to Siberia. 

But it is suspected that a loss of habitat, due to urbanization and global warming, and over-collection have decimated their numbers.

Despite re-introduction efforts, Lee said the fate of the red-dotted in the country still hangs in the balance because of the warmer weather.

“They used to live in cold weather, with their eggs able to survive minus 27 degrees Celsius,” he said.

The 54-year-old entomologist is currently working on protecting two other endangered insects ― a dung beetle and fishkiller ― at his remote mountainside captive-breeding center.

The government in 2005 officially designated the Holoce institution in Hoeongseong, Gangwon, as an ex-situ conservation site, providing state funds for his projects.

Dung beetles, once common throughout the country, are now spotted only in small populations in some parts of Jeju Island and the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea.

Lee is currently breeding about 1,200 of them, hoping they and their offspring lead to a healthy beetle population in Korea.

Restoration of the globally endangered insects has been very solitary but rewarding work, Lee said.

“After years of study and experiments, I have figured out the life cycle of the red-dotted Apollo butterflies, much of which was unknown before me,” he said. 

In 1997, after 15 years in journalism, Lee moved deep into the mountains with his family to pursue his dream of restoring endangered insects.

He now teaches at Andong National University and leads an association of ex-situ conservation institutions in Korea.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)