The permafrost soil in Siberia has been existing for hundreds of years. Again and again, it is amazing – actually it is a once in a lifetime experience to discover extremely well preserved cadavers of animals that died hundreds and thousands of years ago. Recently, a cadaver of a Siberian mammoth was discovered that even contained viscous blood! Incredible.
Mammoths belong to one of the most known prehistoric animals. They still roamed the earth’s surface when the first pyramids were built but then they disappeared and left us their frozen cadavers and skeletons. But wait a minute… once in a while you see stories pop up about people who have seen real living mammoths somewhere in the endless vastness of Siberia…
In the 16th century, when the Cossacks were on the verge of conquering the outback of the Russian empire, they told stories of big, hairy elephants, mountains made of flesh and bones, whose big tusks were made of precious ivory.
Through the centuries, many farmers, hunters and soldiers claimed to have seen a living mammoth in the cold outback of Russia. The last sighting was registered in the 80ies. To this day however, none of these sightings could be confirmed.
One conspiracy theory says that Russia is purposely veiling the existence of living mammoths in order to be able to extract the precious mineral deposits that lie underneath the frozen soil without having to take the safety and protection of these fascinating animals into account. If the public knew about the existence of mammoths, Russia’s reckless extraction of Siberia’s natural resources would probably come to an end.
At the same time, scientists are trying to bring mammoths back to life through genetic engineering. The well preserved cadavers supposedly hold enough genetic material in order to bring the giant, hairy elephants back. I for one hope to be still alive when mammoths are again roaming the depths of the Siberian tundra.
Image: © Lou Gruber
