GALLERY: Ancient baby mammoth on display in Moscow

This baby woolly mammoth isn't looking too shabby for being 39,000 years old.

It went on display in central Moscow on Tuesday (Oct 28). The female mammoth was found on Russia's Arctic coast in 2010 by tusk hunters.

Named Yuka, she is exceptionally well-preserved, says Yury Burlakov from the Russian Academy of Sciences. 

Said Burlakov: "A mammoth is huge, three metres tall, it weighs five tonnes, and we usually don't get to see it intact. Either predators have gnawed on it after its death or something else has happened. This baby mammoth is comparatively small, so certain fragile details are preserved, like the trunk and the tail."

And besides being the only young mammoth of its age found, Yuka's brain has also been very well preserved, according to Burlakov.

Photos: Reuters

Stanislav Kolesov, also from the Russian Academy of Sciences, said: "She's a teenager, nine or ten years old. Mammoths of this age hadn't yet been found. There were adults or very young babies, under a year old."

Scientists are hoping to clone the long extinct animal, so well preserved remains like this are vital. Yuka's visit to Moscow is a part of her world tour. She has already visited Japan and Taiwan. - Reuters