Lyuba, The 42,000 Year Old Baby Woolly Mammoth In The Shemanovsky Museum
Woolly mammoths were similar in size to African elephants. Their fur helped them survive during the Ice Age. Sadly, these large mammoths died out about 10,000 years ago, and they became completely extinct around 4,000 years ago. A female woolly mammoth calf was found in the frozen tundra of Siberia.
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Lyuba was found by Yuri Khudi, a reindeer herder, and his sons in the Yamal Peninsula. As the ice melted, the well-preserved body of the calf became visible. Believing that touching mammoth carcasses brings bad luck, they informed a local museum director instead of touching it. The director then arranged to move the carcass.
When they arrived to retrieve the mammoth, it was missing. It was later found in a shop in a nearby town. The shop owner said he had exchanged the mammoth for two snowmobiles and a year’s supply of food with Khudi’s cousin. During the move, the mammoth was attacked by dogs, losing part of its right ear and tail. With police assistance, they recovered Lyuba and transferred her to the Shemanovsky Museum in Salekhard. As a reward for his discovery, Khudi was given the honor of naming the mammoth, and he named her Lyuba after his wife.
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Lyuba was around 30 to 35 days old when she died. Researchers found clay in her trunk and believe she may have suffocated on mud while drinking water or trying to cross a river with her herd. Her stomach contained her mother’s milk, and fecal matter was found in her intestines. Lyuba is now permanently housed in the Shemanovsky Museum and has traveled for exhibitions to the UK and Australia. She is about three feet tall and weighs around 110 pounds.
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