Well-Preserved Mammoth Discovered in the Permafrost of Northern Siberia

An 11-year-old boy, Zhenya Salinder, discovered a well-preserved mammoth carcass in the permafrost of Northern Siberia, 3,500 km (2,200 miles) northeast of Moscow in Sopochnaya Karga.

A team of experts from the St Petersburg Zoology Institute excavated the mammoth in five days, extracting it from the frozen mud. They sent it to Moscow for further study. The team estimates that the mammoth was 16 years old when it died, and it stood about 2m (6.6ft) in height. It weighed 500kg (1,100lb).

The specimen has been named Zhenya, after the boy who discovered the carcass while walking his dogs in the same area. This specimen could either have been killed by Ice Age humans or a rival mammoth, states Alexei Tikhonov from the St Peterburg Zoology Institute.

The team had to use traditional tools, such as axes, picks, and shovels, as well as a steamer that allowed them to thaw a thin layer of permafrost. This new specimen is 30,000 years old and better preserved than a specimen that was discovered earlier this year. However, this specimen might be less complete than others.

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