Japan plans to become the first nation to display a frozen full-body mammoth with organizers of the project bullish over the success of an expedition to Siberia.
The multi-million dollar project has found a tusked head and left forefoot of an adult woolly mammoth in a test excavation at Sakha, one of the most northern and largest Russian republics where land is mainly permafrost, organizers told a news conference here.
Sakha and the organizing body of the Expo 2005 world exposition in central Japan signed a memorandum of understanding on Friday to excavate and display the Yukagir Mammoth at the fair.
"The parties will cooperate to display the Yukagir Mammoth as a featured exhibition at the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi, Japan, within the framework of a joint Russia-Japan project," the English-language memorandum said.
The republic and the Russian Federation own the animal.
"Experiences from past expeditions tell us that it is highly possible to find its body as well, considering the head is well preserved," said Naoki Suzuki, who heads academic research of the excavation project.
"We hope to keep the specimen frozen while we study it" so the valuable remains are not ruined, Suzuki said. He said he wanted to find a new research method since specimens discovered by researchers on previous projects had been ruined after they thawed out.
Full-fledged excavation work will start after more detailed local surveys in April and May, said Shinji Fukukawa, chairman of the Expo 2005 Mammoth Excavation and Exhibition Organizing Committee.
The organizers declined to elaborate on the sizes of the discovered mammoth remains or how it will be moved to Japan for the fair, which is to open in Seto and other cities in Aichi prefecture in March 2005. Fukukawa said the entire project was estimated to cost several million dollars.
Sakha Vice President Akimov Alexander, who was in Japan for the signing of the memorandum, hailed the finding.
"Needless to mention its paleontological importance ... this has immeasurable significance in science, culture and history," he told the joint press conference through a translator.
Fukukawa said the Japanese side had paid no money to Russia for the memorandum as it was "a goodwill deal."
The organisers have earlier said excavation is scheduled for May to September 2004.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in