Hiking up to the spectacular Cirque de Gavarnie in the French Pyrénées a couple of years ago, we were fortunate to observe an Izard - not a mis-spelled reptile or a multi-marathon-running comedian but a 'goat-antelope' also known as as Isard or Pyrenean Chamois Rupicapra pyrenaica.
Both male and female have backward-curving horns but these offer little defence against hunters; in the last century all species of chamois in Europe were driven to the brink of extinction for meat, trophies and especially their skin, to be made into chamois leather. Fortunately better protection, hunting restrictions and translocation have enabled them to bound back to an IUCN status of 'Least Concern'.

This is No.39 in the #BrightenYourDay series, designed to broaden horizons during the #Covid19 #lockdown.