2) Pyrenian Ibex

Image VIA

This rather cool looking dude once roamed far and wide through France and Spain, but by the early 1900s the Pyrenian ibex was down to just a hundred or so individuals. No one is too sure why the ibex was having such trouble surviving. Some think it may have been down to disease, others reckon lack of habitat or inability to compete for resources.

The last Pyrenian ibex in the wild was called Celia and she was killed by a falling tree on January 6th 2000. What a tragic end. Amazingly scientists took some of Celia’s cheek cells and managed to clone her! The cloning worked – to a certain extent – making the Pyrenian ibex the first animal to become unextinct. However, the clone died of lung defects just seven minutes later so they’re extinct again. I guess that means they’re the only animal to have ever become extinct twice too.