By ninemsn staff
Footage of a "beautifully preserved" woolly mammoth carcass being recovered from a frozen Siberia has been released by the BBC.
After an initial assessment in March, scientists believe the find throws light on how ancient humans hunted the prehistoric animals.
Wounds on the carcass of the strawberry-blonde mammoth, which has been named Yuka by scientists, show signs that both lions and humans were involved in its death.
The finding indicates that humans sometimes "stole" prey from lions.
"Already there is dramatic evidence of a life-and-death struggle between Yuka and some top predator, probably a lion," leading mammoth expert, Daniel Fisher, professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Michigan, told the
BBC.
"Even more interesting, there are hints that humans may have taken over the kill at an early stage."
Bernard Buigues of the Mammuthus organisation obtained the frozen carcass from tusk hunters.
The Yuka mammoth, believed to be a two-year-old juvenile, was filmed as part of the BBC/Discovery show
Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice.
The flesh and hair of the carcass is surprisingly well preserved considering it is thought to be more than 10,000 years old.
Professor Alice Roberts was part of the film crew there during the recovery.
"There are some odd things," she said.
"What we need to do is find out if this was human interference near the time of death or was it something that happened much later?
"If it happened near the time of death then it means Yuka is a very important specimen as there are not many [mammoths] that show human interactions."
Seeing Yuka in the flesh was almost "poignant", she said.
"You feel it has only just died as it is so beautifully preserved."
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Originally Posted by Armatus
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