World's most complete mammoth to be shown at Natural History Museum
The world's most complete preserved mammoth will go on display at London's Natural History Museum next month.
The baby mammoth will be the centrepiece of a special three-month exhibition at the popular London museum. Source: Press Association
This will be the first time the find has been shown in Western Europe.
The baby mammoth, found in Siberia by a reindeer herder in 2007, is little larger than a dog, and has been nicknamed Lyuba.
It 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 north-west Siberian river in recent years.
Until recently, Lyuba - named after Mr Khudi's wife, whose name is Russian for 'love' - was held by the Shemanovsky Museum in Russia, but will go on display to the British public on May 23.
Professor Adrian Lister, a mammoth researcher at the Natural History Museum, said: "It's an honour to be showcasing the world's best preserved mammoth for the first time in western Europe.
"Lyuba is hugely important for helping us to understand the lives of ice age animals. This exhibition is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet this amazing creature from more than 40,000 years ago."
Visitors to the three-month-long exhibition will also have the opportunity to imagine life as a mammoth. "Tusk-jousting" and an artificial trunk which visitors can handle will be among the experiences available to curious museum-goers.
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