Pyrenean Ibex - Habitat

Habitat

The species has been often spotted throughout the areas of France, Portugal, Spain, and Andorra but not as much in northern areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In areas like Andorra and France in the mainland, the Pyrenean Ibex was extinct originally in the northern tip of the Iberian Peninsula. The Pyrenean Ibex was estimated to have 50,000 individuals with more than 50 other sub groups that ranged from the Sierra Nevadas to Sierra Morena and Muela de Cortes. Many of these sub groups lived and thrived in sierras and ranges of the sort, which expanded into Spain and into Portugal. The last remains of the Pyrenean Ibex was spotted in areas of Middle and Eastern Pyrenees all of which were below twelve hundred meters of altitude. However, in areas of southern France and surrounding areas, the ibex was founded to Upper Pleistocene and Holocene which would range from 350–925 meters and between 1190–2240 meters, making it the highest elevations for Pyrenean Ibexes to be spotted at.

Pyrenean Ibex was quite abundant up until the 14th century and numbers did not dwindle down in the region until the mid 19th century. Pyrenean Ibexes tend to live in rocky habitats that are filled with cliffs and trees interspersed with scrub or pine trees. However, small patches of rocks in farmland or various areas along the Iberian coast would be livable conditions for the Pyrenean Ibex. The ibex was able to thrive well in its’ environment as long as the appropriate habitat is available because they were able to disperse rapidly and colonize quickly. Pyreneans Ibexes were also good sources of revenue to the local areas that they thrive in, which may have been a cause to their eventual extinctions. Researchers say that the eventual downfall of the Pyreneans Ibex may have been caused by continuous hunting and even perhaps that the animal could not compete with the other live stock in the area. However, definite reasons for the extinction of this animal is still unknown.

The subspecies once ranged across the Pyrenees in France and Spain and the surrounding area, including the Basque Country, Navarre, north Aragon and north Catalonia. A few hundred years ago they were numerous, but by 1900 their numbers had fallen to fewer than 100. From 1910 onwards, their numbers never rose above 40, and the subspecies was found only in a small part of Ordesa National Park, in Huesca.