12-06-2010 09:32 BJT
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Woolly mammoths once roamed the vast plains of the Siberian tundra. Then about 10,000 years ago, in the span of a geological heartbeat, over a 300 year period, they disappeared from Siberia. And some were driven to extinction.
During the last Ice Age, shaggy mammoths, woolly rhinos and bison lumbered across the grassy tundra of northern Siberia.
Scientist Sergey Zimov estimates that there are around 150 million mammoth remains in the Russian permafrost.
He regularly comes across remains of Mammoths and other Ice Age animals during his work in the snowy landscape.
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| In this photo taken Oct. 23, 2010 Russian scientist Sergey Zimov demonstrates for AP Television News the emission of methane trapped under the ice of a Siberian lake near the town of Chersky, Russia. Gas locked inside Siberia's frozen soil and under its lakes has been seeping out since the end of the last ice age. But recently, especially in the last five years as the Earth has warmed, the permafrost has thawed more rapidly, accelerating the release of methane, a greenhouse gas 23 times more powerful than carbon dioxide. (AP Photo/Arthur Max) |
In recent years, because of changes in the temperature in Siberia related to climate change, local people say the bones of mammoths tend to come up to the surface of the earth.
Sergey Zimov, Director, Science Station in Chersky, said, "For three hundred years people here are looking for mammoth bones, "ivory" is the word in English. Each year our region digs up about 30 to 40 tons of mammoth's bones, of mammoth's tusks."
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