'A thrill' Prison inmates help save endangered butterfly

Trista Egli was standing in a greenhouse, tearing up strips of plantain and preparing to feed them to butterfly larvae. Of the many things the team here has tried to tempt larvae of the Taylor's checkerspot - a native of the Pacific north-west - it is the invasive English plantain they seem to love the most.

- Andrew Buncombe

"The big thing for me is being part of an effort to save an endangered species," said Egli, 36. "It is a big thrill."

Egli is one of seven women incarcerated at the Mission Creek correctional facility, located a two-hour drive from Seattle, who are part of a year-long programme that takes captured butterflies, harvests their eggs, and oversees the growth of the larvae before they are released into the wild where they will turn into adults.

Many women on the programme speak of their pride working on a project that feels as if it is making a positive contribution to the world.