The Arguments against Cloning the Pyrenean Wild Goat

García‐González, Ricardo; Margalida, Antoni

doi:10.1111/cobi.12396

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Bucardo were hunted to extinction (Acevedo & Cassinello, 2009; Crampe, 2020; García‐González & Herrero, 1999; García‐González & Margalida, 2014; Woutersen, 2000, 2012). They were considered one of Europe’s most important trophy animals by the 19th century, valued above all for their horns, attracting recreational hunters from France and Britain in search of an animal that was infamously ghostly and difficult to encounter (Searle, 2021).…”

Section: In the Footsteps Of Ghostsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cloning scientists secured further funding – ironically, from the hunting federation of Aragón – and attempted further cloning attempts in 2014 (Kupferschmidt, 2014). Speculation around de/extinction resulted in significant opposition from ecologists in the Pyrenees (García‐González & Margalida, 2014), and Ecologistas en Acción held a protest in Ordesa, calling for “more conservation, less cloning.” 7…”

Section: Cloning and Its Contestationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spectral ecologies: De/extinction in the Pyrenees

Searle

2021

Trans Inst British Geog

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How is extinction problematised through biotechnological and ecological interventions, and how might such mediations elucidate different understandings of biotic loss and recovery? The bucardo – an endemic ibex from the Pyrenees – is the only extinct animal to have ever been cloned, and for seven short minutes in 2003, “extinction was not forever.” Using the bucardo’s extinction as a starting point, rather than an ending, this paper addresses the “spectral ecologies” of the Pyrenees. Drawing on interviews and extensive ethnographic work conducted in Spain and France, I discuss the implications of this cloning project, and examine the various ways in which it is contested. Speculative futures of bucardo clones “returning” to the Pyrenees seem unlikely, however, following the successful introductions of another subspecies of ibex to the French Pyrenees in 2014. Such events – following the mobilities and geographies of the ibex themselves – invalidate justifications for cloning in conservation. Spectral ecologies are characterised through the unsettling of – and departures from – linear temporalities. I broaden the ontological scope of species resurrection to attend to phenotypic shifts associated with ecological restoration projects, which I call “de/extinction.” De/extinction unsettles a range of epistemological assumptions concerning two of conservation’s key concepts: species and extinction. Introduced ibex in the Pyrenees are beginning to resemble the defining features of bucardo with every new generation, a fascinating reworking of the bucardo’s absence. The figure of the ghost brings to the fore multiple pasts and futures, human and nonhuman, materialising and affecting bodies in spectral ecologies. This case offers a theoretical advance to the field of extinction studies and cultural geographies in considering different meanings of “the end,” and the imagined futures of “lost” biota.

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Section: In the Footsteps Of Ghostsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Cloning and Its Contestationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectral ecologies: De/extinction in the Pyrenees

Searle

2021

Trans Inst British Geog

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“…Since most of the arguments in favour of de‐extinction are linked to the concept of ecological proxy, the best alternative to the resurrection of extinct species could be the selection and release of extant ecological replacements (IUCN ). Using existing species as alternatives deserves to be considered (IUCN ), not only from an ecological perspective, but also from an evolutionary perspective (see an example in the Pyrenean wild goat ( Capra p. pyrenaica ) in Garcia‐Gonzalez & Margalida ).…”

Section: Restoration Of Evolutionary Trajectoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

De‐extinction and evolution

et al. 2016

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Summary1. De-extinction, the process of resurrecting extinct species, is in an early stage of scientific implementation. However, its potential to contribute effectively to biodiversity conservation remains unexplored, especially from an evolutionary perspective. 2. We review and discuss the application of the existing evolutionary conservation framework to potential de-extinction projects. We aim to understand how evolutionary processes can influence the dynamics of resurrected populations and to place de-extinction within micro-and macro-evolutionary conservation perspectives. 3. In programmes aiming to revive long-extinct species, the most important constraints to the short-term viability of any resurrected population are (i) their intrinsically low evolutionary resilience and (ii) their poor eco-evolutionary experience, in relation to the absence of (co)adaption to biotic and abiotic changes in the recipient environment. 4. Assuming that some populations of resurrected species can persist locally, they have the potential to bring substantial benefits to biodiversity if the time since initial extinction is short relative to evolutionary dynamics. The restoration of lost genetic information could lead, along with the reinstatement of lost ecological functions, to the restoration of some evolutionary patrimony and processes, such as adaptation and diversification. 5. However, substantial evolutionary costs might occur, including unintended eco-evolutionary changes in the local system and unintended spread of the species. Further, evolutionary benefits are limited because (i) the use of resurrected populations as 'evolutionary proxies' of extinct species is meaningless; (ii) their phylogenetic originality is likely to be limited by the selection of inappropriate candidate species and the fact that the original species might be those for which de-extinction is the most difficult to achieve practically; (iii) the resurrection of a few extinct species does not have the potential to conserve as much evolutionary history as traditional conservation strategies, such as the reduction of ongoing species declines and extinction debts. 6. De-extinction is a stimulating idea, which is not intrinsically antagonistic to the conservation of evolutionary processes. However, poor choice of candidate species, and most importantly, too long time scales between a species' extinction and its resurrection are associated with low expected evolutionary benefits and likely unacceptable eco-evolutionary risks.

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“…populations with relatively low evolutionary potential). Despite strong evidence that extinction risk increases as genetic diversity decreases (Frankham, Ballou & Briscoe ; Allendorf, Luikart & Aitken ), the conservation genetic implications of de‐extinction have received surprisingly little coverage in the peer‐reviewed literature (Garćia‐González & Margalida ; Peers et al . ), excluding the promise of using genome‐editing technologies to enhance conservation outcomes for extant threatened species (Hellmann & Pfrender ; Shapiro ; Johnson et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maximising evolutionary potential in functional proxies for extinct species: a conservation genetic perspective on de‐extinction

2017

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Summary 1.De-extinction sensu stricto is the resurrection of phenotypic traits once possessed by extinct species to create extant functional proxies. To realise the ecological benefit of de-extinction, self-sustaining (genetically viable) populations of functional proxies are required. 2. It is often implied, yet rarely stated, that the genetic challenges associated with the survival and recovery of extant threatened species in an effort to conserve biodiversity are also relevant to the use of functional proxies of extinct species as a conversation tool. 3. Here, we highlight the importance of prioritising evolutionary potential À the capacity to evolve (adapt) in response to environmental change À in populations of functional proxies. 4. We use conservation genetic principles to describe impediments to the creation and maintenance of evolutionary potential as a series of potentially unavoidable genetic bottlenecks (preextinction, resurrection, captive, translocation). 5. To give any successfully translocated populations of functional proxies the best chance to survive beyond the first few generations in the wild, we advocate the use of a holistic framework that includes the creation of sufficiently large, genetically diverse populations that harbour the ability to adapt to a changing environment.

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The Arguments against Cloning the Pyrenean Wild Goat

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Spectral ecologies: De/extinction in the Pyrenees

Spectral ecologies: De/extinction in the Pyrenees

De‐extinction and evolution

Maximising evolutionary potential in functional proxies for extinct species: a conservation genetic perspective on de‐extinction

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