Evolution & life

The last Pyrenean ibex dies and is later cloned

6 January 2000

On 6 January 2000 the last known Pyrenean ibex, a female nicknamed Celia, was found dead in Ordesa National Park in Spain, crushed by a fallen tree. This large wild goat, the bucardo, had been hunted for its horns and meat, and once lived across the Pyrenees. Scientists had taken tissue samples a year before, and in 2003 a team used them to clone Celia, with eggs of domestic goats. A kid was born on 30 July 2003 but died minutes later of a lung defect. It was the first attempt to bring an extinct animal back to life, and the only time an extinct animal has been born twice.

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This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.