I'm fairly certain that the <explore info> in the <area explore> used to repop without the <explore info> dying, similar to <area explore>

Since at least last year it doesn't seem to be the case. Now once someone requests the <explore info>, they're no longer available outside of killing the <explore info> and waiting for a repop. That means the area can only be explored once per reboot for a lot of classes since the mobs are generally <explore info>.