Raising the Mammoth Page #2

the right track.

Over tea in the home he shares with

his wife, son, and in-laws,

Guenady considers a request.

Bernard wants to know if the Jarkovs

will tell him where they found

the tusks

the place where a mammoth with flesh

and organs might still be buried.

To disturb it may be risky,

says Guenady's father-in-law.

Though he doesn't approve

the old Dolgan offers advice.

Be sure to honor tradition

he counsels the men.

If they succeed in taking a mammoth

carcass out of the earth,

they must give something back

a white reindeer and some coins.

Otherwise, the spirits might

get angry and someone could die.

In a land as featureless as this one

it's hard to imagine how the Dolgans

might retrace their steps

to a distant patch of tundra.

But they can.

Long ago, the Dolgan lost their

written language

but their knowledge of the Taimyr

is encyclopedic.

Without compasses or maps they're

expert navigators

reading every bump on the terrain.

Gathering a small crew of scientists

and Russian laborers

Bernard decides to scout the site.

It's now or never if he wants to

dig this year.

The Siberian autumn is so fierce,

that there's only a small window of

opportunity

to extract a mammoth from

the frozen earth.

Were he to dig in summer like

mammoth hunters before him,

the animal might decompose before it

left the ground.

For a hundred thousand years,

the woolly mammoth dominated

the landscape

one of the largest land mammals ever

to walk the planet.

With its shaggy mammoth-like coat

the musk ox

a protected species that survived

the Ice Age

is the largest remaining

Arctic mammal today.

Hopes are high as the helicopter

sets down 232 kilometers northwest

of Khatanga.

Bernard is heartened by the relative

softness of the ground.

Digging may be easier than expected.

The men are equipped for a month's

stay on the Taimyr.

They'll be in radio contact

with Anatoly

and the Russian authorities

responsible for their safety.

Otherwise, they're on their own.

Despite the sunny skies

it's well below zero.

Their first job is to set up camp.

Ah, a little bit more...

ah I think it's okay.

Conditions here can - and do -

change in a matter of hours.

The tents and porthole windows are

double thickness

to protect against gale-force winds

and the chill of polar nights.

They weigh close to 182 kilos.

Reindeer meat, one of the few things

in ample supply on the tundra

will be a staple of the team's diet

for the next month.

With a crew this small,

the men will have to take turns

in the kitchen

and the hunters among them

will help supply their table

with meat.

Frequent meals will help the men

conserve their energy

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