Perfectly preserved Ice Age cave bear found in the Arctic

Reindeer herders in a Russian Arctic archipelago have found an immaculately preserved carcass of an Ice Age cave bear, researchers said Monday.

The find, revealed by melted permafrost, was discovered on the Lyakhovsky Islands with its teeth and even its nose intact. Previously, scientists had only been able to discover the bones of cave bears that were extinct 15,000 years ago.

Scientists at the Northeast Federal University in Yakutsk, the leading research center for woolly mammoths and other prehistoric species, hailed the find as groundbreaking.

In a statement issued by the university, researcher Lena Grigorieva emphasized that “this is the first and only find of its kind: a bear corpse complete with soft tissues.”

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“It is completely preserved, with all the internal organs in place, including even the nose,” Grigorieva said. “This finding is of great importance to everyone.”

A preliminary analysis indicated that the adult bear lived 22,000 to 39,500 years ago.

“It is necessary to carry out radiocarbon analysis to determine the precise age of the bear,” said researcher Maxim Cheprasov quoted by the university.

The bear’s carcass was found by reindeer herders on Bolshoy Lyakhovsky Island. It is the largest of the Lyakhovsky Islands, which are part of the New Siberian Islands archipelago that lies between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea.

At around the same time, a well-preserved carcass of a cave bear cub was also found in another area on the Yakutia mainland, the university said. He did not describe his condition in detail, but noted that scientists are hoping to obtain his DNA.

Recent years have seen major discoveries of mammoths, woolly rhinos, Ice Age foals, various cubs and cubs of cave lions as permafrost melts across vast areas of Russia’s Siberia region.