Baby mammoth Yuka arrived in Moscow

The famous baby mammoth came to Moscow
The famous baby mammoth came to Moscow

Famous Yakut mammoth Yuka was met at the Central House of Artists like a movie star. A few dozen photographers and camera men surrounded the van, which brought the first exhibit of the Festival of Russian Geographical Society. The procedure itself took less than five minutes. During this time, people in robes and masks were moving the frozen remains from the shipping container to a special cryo-chamber. The temperature inside of it is optimal for storing a mammoth - 18 ° C below zero. Then this sarcophagus with windows will be installed in a hall of the Central House of Artists. 

The first festival of the Russian Geographical Society will be held from October 31 to November 6 at the Central House of Artists in Moscow. 

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Baby mammoth Yuka
Baby mammoth Yuka

The special mammoth 

It is not the first time when the remains of woolly giants are exhibited as museum pieces - in 2013 mammoth Lyuba was exposed in the capital, many of you remember baby mammoth Dima. Yet Yuka stands out. Some scientists believe that of all mammoth remains found for the present day Yuka is best preserved. Most of its soft tissues, as well as its hair and even the brain remained almost intact. Pretty deep marks from the claws of predators were found on Yuki’s skin. Excellent state of preservation of the remains allows scientists to build the most ambitious plans, for example, cloning a mammoth. 

In 2010, members of Yukagir community on the shores of the Laptev Sea in Ust-Yansky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) found the body of a baby mammoth. The ancestor of elephants was named after the community - Yuka. She died about 39 thousand years ago at the age of 6-9. 

"Regarding this mammoth my colleagues hope that this one is a good candidate for cloning - said an expert in paleontology of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, Candidate in Biological Science - Vladimir Zhegallo. - For cloning we need to get DNA fragments. There is no living DNA in the corpse. It broke out into many fragments. From them we can form a single chain. Then, DNA can be introduced into an Indian elephant. Because Indian elephants are closer to mammoths than African ones"

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A rare exhibit of great interest for children and adults
The rare exhibit is of great interest for children and adults

At the same time, the expert notes that each species has its own ecological niche. Despite the fact that the landscape inhabited by mammoths is long gone, scientists can find for these giants a suitable area in the Arctic steppe. 

The mammoth’s path 

Yuka is very popular abroad. Before coming to Moscow, the little mammoth has already visited several Asian countries, including Japan. After returning from Japan it arrived in Vladivostok and it took another 14 days and an invaluable help from a member of the Board of Trustees of the Russian Geographical Society, Chairman of the Board of Directors of "KARDO Alliance" Magomed Magomedov, to bring the valuable cargo to Moscow. 

After the end of the Festival the mammoth will stay in the capital for a few months, after that it will be exhibited in South Korea and other Asian countries. Yuka will be permanently exposed in Yakutsk. 

Text: Alice Veselkova 

Photo: Ilya Melnikov

Знаменитый мамонтенок приехал в Москву
Installation of the exhibit in the cryo chamber
  Director of the Department of Regional Development of the Russian Geographical Society Alexander Khatskevich
Expert in paleontology of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, Candidate in Biological Science - Vladimir Zhegallo
Встреча знаменитого Якутского мамонтенка Юка