Young boys are often keen to go off exploring close to where they live, digging around in the hope they’ll make an extraordinary discovery.
But when one 11-year-old Russian boy decided to explore his local neighborhood, he came across something which hadn’t been seen in more than 100 years.
The curious youngster uncovered a nearly intact wooly mammoth – which was discovered complete with flesh, bones, fur and layers of fat.
It is believed the remains – which include a tusk – are the right half of the body, weighing in at 500kg.
The Moscow News reports it is a male which died about 30,000 years ago at the age of 15. It has remained frozen in permafrost ever since.
The boy who made the astonishing discovery has been named as Yevgeny Salinder, ABC News reported.
He found the frozen beast in Taymyr, north Russia, where he lives with his family, close to the Sopkarga polar station.
Woolly mammoths have been found in the permafrost in Siberia since at least 1929, but this is one of the best preserved, researchers believe.
Its tusks, mouth and rib cage are clearly visible.
After telling his parents about his incredible find, scientists were able to confirm the discovery.
It is believed to be the second best preserved mammoth ever unearthed and the best mammoth discovery since 1901.
It has now been named Zhenya after the boy’s nickname and will be studied by scientists.
Alexei Tikhonov, a mammoth specialist with the Russian Academy of Sciences, told journalists that the last time such a well-preserved mammoth was found in Russia was in 1901, also in the Krasnoyarsk region, but much farther south, according to the statement.
The carcass will become an exhibit at the Taimir Regional Studies Museum, but museum staff have agreed to allow scientists from zoological and paleontological institutes in Moscow and St. Petersburg study it first.
