Raising the Mammoth Page #6

There's only one thing to do.

Call the expedition "hotline"

in Khatanga.

Nikolai!

Fortunately, the doctor is in.

While Nikolai, one of the

Russian workers takes note

Anatoly reveals

the secrets of working

with his latest electronic antique.

It turns out that it's nothing

serious.

A little sleight of hand with

a couple of connecting wires

and the team may be in business.

The din of jackhammers is deafening.

But the permafrost is stubborn,

giving way grudgingly to the forces

of iron and steel.

Finally, the men begin to make up

for lost time.

The trench around the mammoth

is getting deeper

and any day now, the animal

may burst out.

The sound of jackhammers is the

signal for the expedition leader

and the scientist to brace themselves

against the cold

and head for the mammoth site.

From here on in, the men will work

under the constant supervision of

Dick and Bernard.

They've become guardians of the

animal taking shape under their eyes.

Their vigilance is rewarded

when the first wiry hairs poke from

the side of the block.

Dick can barely contain his

excitement

at the signs of life making

their way to the surface

after thousands of years underground.

...You go through the damages

made by the jackhammer

you'll see that this was never

disturbed

so this must be the original

clay layer

in which the mammoth was buried.

There are few clues to the world

of the Jarkov mammoth.

What is known comes from radio

carbon dating

and analysis of the tusks,

teeth and pollen samples around

the hair salvaged

from the first expedition.

The evidence shows that

it's a 47-year-old male

that died some 22,222 years ago.

After the animal is unearthed

new tests will be performed on

its tissue and bones.

Oh, this is beautiful.

22,382 years ago

this animal died and now

I am riding on its back.

Everywhere hairs, everywhere

hundreds, thousands...

It's beautiful.

Now so close to the flesh

Bernard urges caution.

The men must continue to reduce

the block's weight

without exposing the animal.

Once flown off the tundra,

the mammoth will be preserved in

its frozen state

for scientists to study in a less

hostile environment.

Hair is visible on all three sides

of the block

signaling that the last phase is near.

Burrowing under a block the weight

of four woolly mammoths won't be easy.

But even if can be done

lifting it may be problematic

and Bernard is concerned.

The huge helicopter's coming to...

Yeah, yeah.

Is he going to make the cables

so the helicopter...

Yes, it's, I have a lot of

small problem

because I have always the Russian

told me

"yes we have, yes it's okay, yes.

But many time it works,

but many time it not works

the first time, you know?

Now the problem we have because

this big helicopter will lift it

cannot take more than 26 tons.

26?

Yeah, 26?

This is the size of a block we have

26, 32 tons now

but it's the first time we do this.

It's week three on the Taimyr.

A helicopter bearing supplies

and a few curious onlookers flies

low over the campsite.

After days of nothing

but the sound of jackhammers

and Arctic wind

the men on the ground are equally

mesmerized by the chopper.

The pilot's ritual is always

the same.

He can't resist buzzing the site

to see how the block is shaping up.

They've gotten so close now

that the scent of ancient animal

is in the air.

I will smell it to see if it smells.

Uh, it is cold but I can tell you

it smells.

Right now my nose is so cold

I don't think I could smell.

This is exceptional for me

because for the first time

I can touch the hair of the animal

that I've been pursuing that's still

in place in the ground.

And when I see it here and there

and over there

well then I'm very impressed.

Very impressed.

I've got bones, I've got teeth

I've got tusks

and in one case we even found

the dung of mammoths.

But I've never been where

I can pet the hair

that's still attached to the animal.

It's an emotional experience

that probably you don't have

as deeply

unless you've been hunting mammoths

for over 32 years like I have.

Ideally, if everything worked

properly

they wouldn't clone this animal

and then I can actually pet the

living animal.

But right now, to pet the hair of

this mammoth

is kind of the height of

mammoth hunting.

To gather fleece and hair of

an extinct woolly mammoth

is a unique thrill

but especially for foreigners banned

from Siberia for decades.

Don't hit the animal.

The men refrain from taking soft

tissue for now.

Later, the mammoth will move to

the ice caves in Khatanga.

And scientists will take

uncontaminated samples of flesh

and the flora and fauna around

the animal in a controlled setting.

A piece of 22,222 year old wool.

A living mammoth's yellow-brown

undercoat could be an inch thick

and lay just below the animal's

long bristly mane.

Yes, but it's simple...

we can use this large instrument.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You become addict.

You have this and you want this.

Months from now,

when DNA samples are taken

from this animal

more valuable information will

surface about a little-known species

and thoughts of its revival will

haunt many a dream.

The end of week three sees progress

but not enough.

Trying to make up for lost time,

Bernard does the unreasonable:

Calls for volunteers for a night dig.

You need much more time in tundra

to do something.

Always before to go to sleep

I prefer to solve the main question

of the day.

I know that if tomorrow I start

this process, I lost one day.

So I take my courage in my hand

and I try to speak with my team and

try to get one or two people

as a volunteer because

I cannot do by myself.

So I start to speak about this

and I was so surprised.

I know that Boris will join me

of course

but I was so surprised that

all the team was like one man.

And for me, it gives so much

more energy

that we do much more than

I expected that time.

The Siberian night is unforgiving.

Temperatures have plummeted

to well below zero

by the time the men pick up

their tools.

But now the end is in sight.

The men know the block they've

chiseled out of rock-solid permafrost

is large enough to contain the

entire mammoth carcass.

Now they've just got to get

underneath.

Shattering the ice that seals

one side of the block to the earth

is laborious work

but separating the block from

the permafrost side requires

both strength and real motivation.

What was very exciting at that time

is we were so close to the end

that everybody find more energy.

And after four hours working

in the night

I have to stop these people working

because I know that if we have

not enough rest

tomorrow we'll have some problem.

Do you know what it is tissane

Herb tea and coffee.

Simplicity rules at the mammoth camp

work, sleep and all they can eat.

The fare is basic

fish when they're lucky,

and reindeer for breakfast

lunch and dinner.

Covered by a fresh deerskin,

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