CHINA: A 40,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth found in Russia in 2007 arrives in Hong Kong as part of an Asian exhibition tour

Record ID: 858238

  • Title: CHINA: A 40,000-year-old baby woolly mammoth found in Russia in 2007 arrives in Hong Kong as part of an Asian exhibition tour
  • Date: 10th April 2012
  • Summary: HONG KONG, CHINA (MARCH 10, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BABY MAMMOTH LUBYA BEING UNPACKED MEDIA LYUBA BEING UNWRAPPED LYUBA'S HEAD MUSEUM SHEMANOVSKY MUSEUM CURATOR, GALINA KARZANOVA, HOLDING BOOK WITH PICTURE OF DISCOVERY PHOTO OF MAN WHO DISCOVERED LYUBA, YURI KHUDI (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CURATOR, SHEMANOVSKY MUSEUM, GALINA KARZANOVA, SAYING: "Lyuba has a trunk and it is almost intact and this is the most fragile part of a mammoth, so she's very rare because she has the trunk. Also her ears are more or less still there. Her skin is intact which is very rare, and what is most important for scientists are her inner organs her intestines, her insides are more or less there." LYUBA LYUBA'S EAR VARIOUS OF LYUBA'S GROIN LYUBA'S HIND LEGS LYUBA LYUBA'S FRONT LEGS FOLDS IN SKIN HAIRS ON LEG (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CURATOR, SHEMANOVSKY MUSEUM, GALINA KARZANOVA, SAYING: "Scientists took samples of Lyuba's internal organs and preserved them so they can do more research in the future." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE HOLDING UP LYUBA VARIOUS OF LYUBA'S FACE LUBYA'S TAIL LUBYA'S LEGS HAIR ON LEGS VARIOUS OF LYUBA LYING IN CASE VARIOUS OF LYUBA BEING PACKED UP
  • Embargoed: 25th April 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China, Hong Kong, China
  • City:
  • Country: Hong Kong
  • Topics: Arts,History
  • Reuters ID: LVACCYYE1Z334XDI4A0RDXPTWRFM
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: A 42,000-year-old baby wooly mammoth found in Russia five years ago arrived in Hong Kong to kick off its Asian tour.
    Lyuba is a one month old female mammoth and the most complete example in the world which probably suffocated in mud and was entombed in the Siberian permafrost for 42,000 years.
    Although she has lost most of her woolly undercoat and long shaggy hair and feral dogs chewed off one of her ears and her tail before she reached scientists, most parts remained intact.
    "Lyuba has a trunk and it is almost intact and this is the most fragile part of a mammoth, so she's very rare because she has the trunk. Also her ears are more or less still there. Her skin is intact which is very rare, and what is most important for scientists are her inner organs her intestines, her insides are more or less there," said Galina Karzanova, a curator at the Shemanovsky Museum in northern Russia.
    Scientists around the world have collaborated to study her using cutting edge technology to find out why she died, and what she can tell us about mammoths at the end of the last Ice Age.
    These scientists imaged Lyuba's insides with scanning technology, sampled food remains still in her stomach, and extracted teeth and tissue samples to determine her age and look at her health.
    "Scientists took samples of Lyuba's internal organs and preserved them so they can do more research in the future," said Karzanova.
    Lyuba was discovered in 2007 by Yuri Khudi, a Siberian nomad from the Nenet tribe who live largely herding reindeer.
    Many Nenets believe that mammoths are creatures from an underground spirit world and bring bad luck to anyone who finds them.
    Khudi, recognizing Lyuba's amazing preservation, travelled hundreds of miles to get her into the hands of scientists.
    Lyuba the mammoth will be exhibited in Hong Kong until next month when she will travel to Macao, China, before moving on to Jakarta, Indonesia, and Singapore. The tour will end in Taiwan in summer 2013.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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