Businessman gives 550,000 euros for mammoth skeleton

lyon - A French businessman sat down at a weekend auction in Lyon almost 550,000 euros for a complete skeleton of a huge woolly mammoth. According to French media, that was a ton more than the auction house Aguttes had counted.

The skeleton excavated in Siberia is 3.40 meters high and 5.30 meters long. The huge animal died more than ten thousand years ago. His skeleton with tusks is the largest privately owned.

The new, wealthy owner was prepared to go far with bidding because his company in Strasbourg has a mammoth in his logo. He was fortunate that a competitor, who participated by telephone, had less deep pockets and dropped out relatively quickly.