On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, the Czech partner JARO released 50 Parnassius apollo butterflies into the Krkonoše mountains! They set out to inspect the quality of the environment, which we have been preparing for them in cooperation with many partners for the third year as part of the LIFE Apollo2020 project.
David Číp from the International Conservation Group JARO told that the release of the Parnassius apollo into the wild was preceded by the modification of a selected and undisclosed location to suit the butterfly, which is at risk of extinction in the Czech Republic and abroad. The organizers of the project perceive this butterfly, which became extinct in the Czech Republic in 1935, as a symbol of the protection of mountain nature. In the 1980s, it was managed to return to Štramberk in northern Moravia, where a weak population still lives.
“Now, together with the KRNAP Administration, the Škoda Auto Foundation and other partners, we are trying to return him to Bohemia, where he last lived in the Krkonoše and Podkrkonoše about 100 years ago. We have been trying for the return of rare ash trees for the third year,” said David Číp. Last year, an attempt at the first test release of butterflies failed due to complications at the butterfly rescue station. “However, the breeding technology was modified, so this year the third generation hatched, which can finally go out,” said Číp.
Conservationists will observe whether the butterflies will thrive in the restored conditions of the Krkonoše nature. “The experts we work with believe that we have managed to restore the conditions for Parnassius apollo in the field to such an extent that it could be enough for the Apollos to stay in the place we are preparing for them after release,” said project coordinator Tereza Macečková from the Group JARO.
So far, conservationists have released only males, so that possible losses of difficult-to-bring individuals are as small as possible. “Females are the most valuable for further breeding. However, if the released males are kept, they start behaving naturally, looking for females that hatch only after the males in the wild, and they stay here for several days after release, the chances of their permanent settlement will be much greater,” said Číp.
According to him, next year it will make sense to release the females as well and try to move to the last final phase of the project, when the Apollos could start to reproduce in the wild. “At the moment, we are roughly half way there, although perhaps the hardest part is behind us,” said JARO Group butterfly breeder Miloš Andres. According to him, the breeding of rare species of butterflies is very demanding, even if it is “only” about rearing the eggs to the adult stage. The most demanding task, which takes several years, he identified as the preparation of the environment for the butterflies in combination with their release without the need for additional reinforcements from breeding.
Conservationists keep the butterflies secret instead of releasing them to prevent them from being caught by a collector. They wrote a number on the top of each butterfly’s wings. “It is both for the sake of records, but also for their protection. They are so worthless to potential collectors,” said Číp.
Last year, conservationists in the Krkonoše improved about a hectare of overgrown rocky terrain and already noticed the spread of rare species of flowering plants and insects, which occur sporadically in the Krkonoše due to lack of space. The project is also focused on the restoration of entire biotopes, taking care of Parnassius apollo helps to protect other sensitive species. “Hopefully the released males will give us hope that we are moving in the right direction and we will have the chance to meet this beautiful butterfly in the Krkonoše Mountains permanently,” added Radek Drahný, spokesman for the KRNAP Administration.
The practical part of the LIFE Apollo2020 international project to protect the Apollos, one of Europe’s most endangered butterflies, started in 2022 in several areas of Central Europe. The mission for his return to the Krkonoše Mountains is carried out by members of the JARO Group in cooperation with the Czech and Polish Krkonoše Mountains National Park, the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency and a number of other Czech and foreign organizations.
The mission for the return of the king of butterflies to the Krkonoše Mountains will be implemented from 2021 by members of the JARO Group in cooperation with the Administration of the Giant Mountains National Park, the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency, members of the Czech Entomological Society, employees of the Entomological Institute of the Biological Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and partner organizations from Poland, Czechia and Austria.
