Workers at a gold mine in Canada’s Yukon province found a 30,000-year-old woolly baby mammoth fossil. This baby mammoth, with almost its entire body intact, is the same size as the woolly mammoth “Lyuba” discovered in 2007. It is estimated that the baby mammoth was frozen during the ice age. Discovered on June 21, 2022, this mammoth is an extinct woolly mammoth from the elephant family.
The woolly mammoth fossil discovered so far in North America, with almost its entire body, excited the researchers. The fossil was found by gold prospectors in a local area of Yukon, one of the most populated mammoths. Ranj Pillai, Yukon Tourism and Culture Minister, said in a statement regarding the fossil, “The Yukon has always been an internationally renowned site for ice age and Beringya research. “We are excited about this important discovery of the woolly mammoth.”
The baby mammoth, which is presumed to be female, was given the name “Nun cho ga”. This name means “big baby animal” in the local language. After the fossil was found, paleontologists and geologists from the University of Calgary and Yukon Geological Research Institute went to the region and carried out the necessary investigations. In the examinations, it was determined that the mammoth was frozen more than 30 thousand years ago, during the ice age.
“Coming face to face with a real woolly mammoth was one of the longest dreams of my life,” said Grant Zazula, a University of Calgary paleontologist. This dream came true today. “The nun cho ga is beautiful and one of the most complete ice age animals ever discovered in the world.” According to the experts’ statement, the 42,000-year-old baby named “Lyuba” discovered in Siberia is the same size as the woolly mammoth.
How Did the Woolly Mammoths Exist?
For many years, scientists have been conducting research on how mammoths went extinct. To this extinction; Hunting, climate change, disease and meteor strikes were suggested to be caused by events, but a clear conclusion could not be reached. In recent studies, fossils were traced using the radiocarbon method and it was determined how mammoths disappeared.
Research has shown that giant furry animals are extinct due to factors that still threaten humanity today. Among these factors, climate change and changes in living environments come to the fore. Due to the rapid increase in the human population, the habitats of mammoths have also undergone rapid changes.
The population of woolly mammoths living in the ice age began to increase 15,000 years before the end of the ice age. Although the glaciers began to melt and temperatures increased, the plants consumed by the mammoths for their survival increased and an ideal environment was created. However, ideal conditions for the mammoths living in Beringia land connecting North America and Asia and Alaska, Yukon and Siberia, which this land is connected to, did not last for long.
People who have hunted mammoths for thousands of years and lived in Siberia passed to North America via Beringia and started to hunt mammoths there. Mammoth hunting continued in Alaska and the Yukon. At the same time, with the warming of the weather, the grass and willows that the mammoths consumed the most decreased. Conifers with low nutritional value and tree species that can be poisonous have increased.
The migration of the mammoths, whose habitats have narrowed due to the increased swamps and dense forests with the melting of the glaciers, has also become very difficult. Due to hunting and deteriorating environmental conditions, most of the mammoths became extinct 10,000 years ago. A very few of the remaining ones continued to live and continue their lives until 4 thousand years ago. These animals, whose numbers have decreased over time, have become extinct.
