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A few years ago the Discovery Channel funded a documentary called Raising the Mammoth. It followed the progress of an expedition, led by a French scientist in collaboration with Russian scientists, to raise the Jarkov mammoth from the permafrost. Even with modern impact chisels and other tools, it was slow, tedious work to chip hard-as-concrete permafrost around the mammoth carcass. Almost more remarkable were the scenes of the large Russian helicopter straining to raise the combined weight of the mammoth and permafrost -- a 22-ton block -- from its resting place. An interesting followup to this is that Japanese scientists expressed an interest in using the DNA from the Jarkov mammoth to "bring back" the woolly mammoth. Let's hope the finding of the baby mammoth leads to some more interesting discoveries.
There are many theories on how the mammoths perished, but most assume that it was very sudden. In Immanuel Velikovsky's well-known book, Earth in Upheaval, he posits the idea that a series of violent terrestrial cataclysms overtook and wiped out not only the mammoths, but many other species. "Animals, strong and vigorous, suddenly died out without leaving a survivor." He states further that they were in good physical condition and died in the midst of abundant food.
I found an interesting website as follows:
www.answersingenesis.org/ti/v14/i3/mammoth.asp (broken link)
If that link doesn't work, please do a search on the following:
The Extinction of the Woolly Mammoth. Was It a Quick Freeze?
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