The genetic history of Alpine ibex passes through a series of population bottlenecks, linked to the severe decline of the only population that survived extinction during the last two centuries and to the following reintroductions (Stüwe & Scribner, 1989). All Alpine ibex existent nowadays, originate from the few hundreds individuals that survived at the end of the 19th century (Bächler, 1919; Girtanner, 1878; Passerin d'Entréves, 2000) and all Swiss populations originated from about 80 Alpine ibex captured in the Gran Paradiso and transferred to wildlife parks in St. Gallen and Interlaken (Stüwe & Nievergelt, 1991). Alpine ibex reintroductions have always been done with a limited number of founder subjects. It is thus no wonder that the genetic variability of the populations of this species is among the lowest described in the literature for mammals (Hartl, 1986; Stüwe & Scribner, 1989; Randi et al., 1990; Scribner & Stüwe, 1994, Maudet et al., in press).
The genetic distance among the different populations, is in accordance with the history of their foundation and the way in which the different populations have been generated (by natural migration or artificial reintroduction) influences significantly the degree of divergence in the allelic frequency (Scribner & Stüwe, 1994).