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Video length: 3 min
Biodiversity: the successful return of ibexes to the Ariège Pyrenees
Biodiversity: the successful return of ibexes to the Ariège Pyrenees
(France 2)
Hunting made the Pyrenean ibexes disappear in 1910. Around a hundred ibexes were reintroduced ten years ago.
After 100 years of absence, the Iberian ibex is back in the Pyrenees. Reintroduced in the South-West, the animal has adapted perfectly. He likes to walk steep slopes. “The Epinal image of the middle of the ibex: cliffs, slope, grass, therefore food”comments Julien Canet, head of the ibex program at the Ariège Pyrenees regional natural park.
Reintroducing ibexes from central Spain was a challenge ten years ago. Several releases have taken place, and it is a success. “We have a lot of births, animals that stay on site, females that were born here who now give birth to kids”, rejoices Julien Canet. Some females find refuge in the heart of a cliff, in a cave equipped with an automatic camera. In total, 46 kids were born in 2023 in Ariège, a wonderful vitality which allows us to reconnect with a thousand-year-old history.
16,000 years ago, prehistoric men, the Magdalenians, plunged into stone galleries in the Niaux cave (Ariège) to paint the emblematic animals of their time, bison and ibexes. “The first naturalists”, observes Jacques Azema, the director of the cave. Hunting made the Pyrenean ibexes disappear in 1910. To better protect them, hikers are now invited to report them by sending their photos.
