system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Which animal species came the closest to going extinct and then successfully recovered?

Based on what I could find, the species that came the closest to extinction is the Laysan Duck (Anas laysanensis) which reached an all-time-low population of 12 Individuals and then rebounded to several hundred according to the IUCN. I’m curious if there are any species that came closer to going extinct than this one.
gpt
Cheetahs were likely down to a single breeding pair at some point, probably near the end of the last ice age.

All the cheetahs that are alive are virtually identical genetically, leading to a lot of problems with genetic diseases and abnormalities.  They're basically completely inbred.

That said, there's a debate open as to whether they can be considered to have "survived" or not, since they don't have adequate genetic diversity at this point to adapt to anything.  The first disease that comes along that kills one of them can kill them all.