Preserved baby mammoth unveiled in London

Preserved baby mammoth unveiled in London
By admin


The world's most complete preserved mammoth has been unveiled at the Natural History Museum in London.

It is the first time the baby woolly mammoth, found in Siberia by a reindeer herder in 2007, has been shown in western Europe.

She is little larger than a dog and has been nicknamed Lyuba.

The animal is thought to have died 42,000 years ago while just a month old, and is the most comprehensive mammoth skeleton ever found.

Experts believe that the female mammoth's body was buried in wet clay and mud which then froze, preserving it until she was found by Yuri Khudi and his sons while they were searching for firewood along the banks of the Yuribei River.

Lyuba is one of a number of mammoths to have been found close to the northwest Siberian river in recent years.

Until recently, Lyuba – named after Khudi's wife, whose name is Russian for 'love' – was held by the Shemanovsky Museum in Russia, but will go on display to the public in London on Friday.

Professor Adrian Lister, a mammoth researcher at the Natural History Museum, exclaimed "she's beautiful" as he opened the lid of the crate used to transport Lyuba from northern Russia.

He said: 'It was an emotional experience to be face to face with a baby mammoth from the Ice Age. I'm so thrilled that our visitors will be able to experience that too."

The exhibition, named Mammoths: Ice Age Giants, will be open to the public from Friday.

Visitors will be shown how these animals were some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth, how they evolved, and what were the possible causes of their extinction.

The collection also features a spiral-tusked Columbian mammoth and a dwarf mammoth, as well as other prehistoric giants such as the mastodon, sabre-toothed cat and giant cave bear.

Prof Lister said: "This exhibition promises a rare glimpse into the ice age world of mammoths and their relatives through life-sized models, original skeletons and fossils and of course Lyuba, the best preserved and most complete mammoth ever discovered."

Visitors to the three-month-long exhibition will also have the opportunity to try out life as a mammoth by tusk jousting, trunk swinging and feeling the weight of the hundreds of kilos of food a mammoth ate each day.

Latest News

  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]

  • Luxury

Malolo Island Resort opens brand new Spa

Fiji’s Malolo Island has added another string to its bow – opening its $1.3 million day spa on Thursday, 18th April 2024. (Lead Image: matriarch Rosie Whitton with spa staff) Located at the edge of the resort’s luscious patch of tropical rainforest, the new “Leilani’s Spa” adds another level of elevated experiences to Malolo’s already […]