Perfectly preserved baby woolly mammoth discovered in Yukon

A mummified baby woolly mammoth discovered earlier this week in the Yukon is the most complete mummified mammoth that has been found in North America.

On June 21, the baby woolly mammoth was found in the Klondike gold fields within Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Traditional Territory, according to a press release issued by the Yukon government and the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in.

"Miners working on Eureka Creek uncovered the frozen woolly mammoth while excavating through the permafrost. This is a significant discovery for Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in and the Government of Yukon. Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Elders named the mammoth calf Nun cho ga, meaning 'big baby animal' in the Hän language," according to the news release.

READ MORE: Mammoths claimed the Thompson Okanagan as their home more than 10,000 years ago

The Yukon has a world-renowned fossil record of ice age animals but mummified remains with skin and hair are rarely discovered.

"Nun cho ga is the most complete mummified mammoth found in North America," according to the news release.

An examination of the woolly mammoth suggested she is female and roughly the same size as the 42,000 year old infant mummy woolly mammoth Lyuba discovered in Siberia in 2007.

Geologists from the Yukon Geological Survey and University of Calgary who recovered the frozen mammoth on site suggest that Nun cho ga died and was frozen in permafrost during the ice age and is more than 30,000 years old.

READ MORE: Mammoth's tooth found in Williams Lake and preserved for decades by B.C. family


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Carli Berry

Carli Berry has been telling stories in the Okanagan for the past three years and after finding her footing in the newspaper industry, joined the Infonews team in January 2020. Recipient of the 2019 MA Murray award for feature writing, Carli is passionate about stories that involve housing, business and the environment. Born on Vancouver Island, she is happy to say Okanagan Lake reminds, her slightly, of the ocean. Carli can be reached at (250) 864-7494 or email cberry@infonews.ca.