Animal profile

Pyrenean Ibex

Capra pyrenaica pyrenaica

MammaliaRocky alpine and subalpine slopesExtinct

Field profile

The Pyrenean ibex, or bucardo, was one of four subspecies of the Iberian wild goat, distinguished by heavy backward-curving horns. Its range contracted through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to a single valley in the Spanish Pyrenees. The last individual, a female called Celia, died in January 2000.

Published field notes

2024-09-30

Pyrenean Ibex

The Pyrenean ibex is the only animal to go extinct twice

The last bucardo died in 2000. In 2003 a cloned kid was born from her preserved cells, briefly returning the subspecies to existence. The clone died of a lung defect within minutes, making it the only known animal to become extinct on two occasions.

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