Scientists, local First Nation reflect on momentous discovery of baby woolly mammoth in Yukon
CBC
More details were revealed Wednesday about the discovery of Nun cho ga, the first near-complete baby woolly mammoth found in North America by a miner in Yukon's gold fields last month.
The rare specimen made headlines around the world — and sparked wonder and excitement among local scientists in Yukon and the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation on whose land she was found.
Turns out it took the perfect storm to find her.
Scientists believe Nun cho ga, which means "big animal baby" in the Han language of the Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin First Nation, died quickly sometime between 30,000 and 35,000 years ago.
They believe that in order for her to be so well-preserved, a storm likely buried her, shielding her from the elements and other animals.
On June 21, the day she was found, Jeff Bond of the Yukon Geological Survey just happened to be in Dawson City, Yukon, a little less than two hours' travel from the site where Nun cho ga was found.
Dr. Grant Zazula, a government of Yukon paleontologist, had heard from Brian McCaughan, the owner of Treadstone Equipment earlier that day about the discovery. Zazula, who was in Whitehorse, was looking for someone to go on site to retrieve the baby woolly mammoth and bring it safely to cold storage in Dawson City.
Bond readily obliged when he saw the email around 2 p.m. that day and headed to the site with some of his colleagues, a researcher from the University of Calgary, and two of his students.
When he arrived, he saw that McCaughan and Travis Delawski, the placer miner who found the mammoth, had it well protected so Bond decided to document the site's geology by taking samples of the sediments.
Within a couple of hours, he noticed a storm coming up their way. And then it hit.
"You get violent thunderstorms now and again in the Klondike, for sure, but this was another level," said Bond.
"The lightning bolts were dropping around us," recalled McCaughan. "We shut down the crew. I shut everything down. It was just pouring, I don't know how long but we were just drenched."
"That was surreal and significant," McCaughan said.
They all drove to the crew quarters at the mine site and discussed whether they should wait for the storm to stop or go back to Dawson City right away. They decided to drive to Dawson City.
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