The near extinction of the ibex in Serre Chevalier Whilst hiking in the Ecrins Massif National Park in France, cast an eye up the slopes and you may spot a chamois or Ibex.
Consider yourself lucky if you do, as this wonderful creature could have easily become extinct just a few years ago.
Interestingly despite a previously big population the ibex became virtually extinct in this area less than 200 years ago.
This was due to a number of reasons.

• Its meat was valuable food (just as the plentiful marmots, which would be dug out of their burrows in the autumn!),
• the ibex horns were considered a glorious trophy
• there is a cross-shaped piece of ossified cartilage in its heart that was popular as a good-luck charm.
  

In 1820, there were only 90 Ibex left in the Alps, all of them in the Italian Royal hunting reserves.
All of today's Ibex come from this stock, which first of all provided Switzerland and then France in a program set up after the War.
The first release took place on April 26 1959 and consisted of two animals that were traded in by the Swiss in exchange for a few beavers from the Rhone Valley.
The two stags released in the Combeynot massif soon crossed the river to settle on the Cerces slopes, where they found a more suitable habitat with high cliffs, shelter from wind coming from different directions and forests for hiding in the winter.
Two females and another two males joined them in October 1960 and thus the cycle of life could begin anew.
In 1978 eighty ibex were confidently counted, but poaching, human disturbance and the presence of the Army all contributed to reducing the number to 23 in 1986...
Thankfully, in 1992, numbers had risen again to near 60.
Today, the Ibex is solidly in place and is even starting to migrate.
Considering its history, seeing an ibex in its natural habitat is a privilege and should prompt us to respect its quiet wildness.