Extinction and re-establishment of the large blue butterfly in Britain – Museum of Zoology

Join us over Zoom as Professor Jeremy A Thomas talks about extinction and re-establishment of the large blue butterfly in Britain. 

The large blue has long been an iconic species among British wildlife. However, despite many unsuccessful attempts at conservation, UK populations had been in decline for 150 years. Still, this all changed with a successful re-introduction programme guided by research from Professor Jeremy A Thomas. Here, he discusses identifying the specialisations that led to the large blue’s extinction, and how these key insights were applied to generate its successful re-introduction.

Professor Jeremy A Thomas OBE, Emeritus Professor of Ecology, University of Oxford; Chair of the Royal Entomological Society’s Conservation Committee: ‘My research involves identifying the drivers of butterfly declines and using long-term experiments to study the restoration of endangered species. I have studied the large blue butterfly since 1972, pinpointing the factors that led to its extinction in the UK, and using this knowledge to inform its successful reintroduction and spread to around 40 sites so far.’

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