In an Australian first, the world’s only intact and preserved woolly mammoth will be on display at the Australian Museum as part of the blockbuster exhibition Mammoths – Giants of the Ice Age, which has been secured exclusively by the NSW Government.
24 August 2017Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall and Minister for the Arts Don Harwin today announced the major touring exhibition, developed by the Field Museum in Chicago, will open in Sydney on 18 November 2017.
“More than 9,000 overnight visitors are expected to travel to Sydney to see this exhibition, generating more than $3.7 million in overnight visitor expenditure, Mr Marshall said.”
“The NSW Government is committed to continuing to develop our world-class events calendar and securing exhibitions such as this will help us maintain our position as the number one tourism and events state in Australia.”
Mr Harwin said the exhibition gives audiences an opportunity to discover a time when mammoths roamed the Earth, from more than 1.8 million years ago, to as recently as the Ice Age.
“As well as featuring the world’s only intact and preserved mammoth specimen, Lyuba – a baby mammoth who has been preserved for more than 40,000 years – this interactive exhibition transports visitors back to a time when these giant creatures walked the Earth,” Mr Harwin said.
Lyuba, who was discovered in Siberia, is a permanent resident of the Shemanovskiy Yamal Nenets District Museum in northern Siberia, Russia. The best preserved specimen in existence, it is only the fifth time Lyuba has been seen outside Russia and it is her first appearance in the Southern Hemisphere.
Australian Museum Director and Chief Executive Officer Kim McKay said mammoths continue to fascinate children and adults throughout the world – including scientists who study megafauna.
“While Australia had its own unique prehistoric megafauna, mammoths never lived here – so this may be the only chance for domestic audiences and visitors to see a real mammoth and learn more about these amazing giants,” she said.
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