According to the Daily Telegraph, a team of scientists (we're always "teams") have cloned an extinct Spanish mountain goat from DNA contained in frozen skin samples from the last known specimen, aand using domestic goat eggs.
The article, Extinct ibex is resurrected by cloning,saysthat
The Pyrenean ibex, a form of wild mountain goat, was officially declared extinct in 2000 when the last-known animal of its kind was found dead in northern Spain.
Shortly before its death, scientists preserved skin samples of the goat, a subspecies of the Spanish ibex that live in mountain ranges across the country, in liquid nitrogen.
Using DNA taken from these skin samples, the scientists were able to replace the genetic material in eggs from domestic goats, to clone a female Pyrenean ibex, or bucardo as they are known. It is the first time an extinct animal has been cloned.
Sadly, the newborn ibex kid died shortly after birth due to physical defects in its lungs.
There's a slight hitch here, though isn't there? I mean, aside from the fact the poor wee died shortly after birth, aren't we only going to be able to generate specimens of one sex?
Perhaps the plan is to mate the resurrected Pyrenean Ibex with a closely related species and try to breed from the progeny? Sounds like a lot of work!