SOFIA, July 29 (Reuters) – The remains of what is believed to be an ancient mammoth have been revealed in northern Bulgaria, after Danube River water levels receded to a record low level, the BTA news agency reported on Wednesday, citing historians.
The animal’s remains were found on Wednesday by a local resident of the Ryahovo village, who noticed the unusual find on the river bed. Villagers then alerted specialists in the Regional History Museum in the nearby town of Ruse.
Museum Director Nikolay Nenov told BTA that experts who were sent to the site recognised a lower jaw, two tusks and possibly a mammoth rib, and that the bones will be removed for further examination on Thursday to establish with accuracy the origin and age of the find.
“I would not call it a sensation, but any discovery of such ancient remains is very important for science,” Nenov said, adding it has been long believed that the site was a swamp where the animal probably died thousands of years ago.
Danube levels have fallen to record lows in recent weeks following the summer’s prolonged heat waves and drought that have affected rivers across Europe including key waterways such as the Rhine.
(Reporting by Stoyan Nenov, writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by)
