Attempt to revive extinct mountain goats

Spanish scientists expressed their ambition to reproduce asexual species of extinct mountain goats by utilizing frozen cells collected from the last individual when it was alive.

The upper mountain goat is called the bucardo or the Pyrenean ibex , extinct in 2000, but the cells from the last individual of this species have been collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen.

Pyrenean ibex mountain goat is now only present in museums - (Photo: Gobierno de Aragon)

In an attempt to reproduce asexually in 2003, a mountain goat was born but died shortly after birth.

However, this is still considered a historical achievement whereby an extinct creature is revived for the first time.

After 10 years, researchers will consider the possibility of continuing the resurrection mission, using 14-year-old preserved cells collected from Celia, the last individual of the goat.

'We haven't rushed to start the mountain goat revival plan yet, we just want to know if Celia cells are still alive during the years of frozen nitrogen liquid,' according to BBC News quoted Alberto Fernandez- Arias of Aragon Food Research and Technology Center (Spain).

If the cells remain in the same state, experts will create asexual embryos and transplant them into female goats.