Villager finds mammoth lower jaw and tusks in river

Mammoth remains were found at the bottom of the Danube River in northern Bulgaria on Wednesday, BTA and Reuters news agencies reported.

Experts identified a lower jaw, two tusks and possibly a rib from the mammoth, museum director Nikolay Nenov told BTA. The bones will be removed from the river on Thursday for further examination to confirm the age of the find.

A resident of the village of Ryahovo made the unusual discovery at the bottom of the river on Wednesday and reported it to experts. Experts from the Ruse Regional History Museum were called to inspect the find.

The water level dropped to a record low, which caused the mammoth remains to be exposed at the bottom of the river. Photo: Lyuboslav Yordanov/Slivo pole municipality

The finds included a mammoth tusk, among other things. Photo: Lyuboslav Yordanov/Slivo pole municipality

Museum director Nenov wouldn’t call the discovery a sensation, but says that every ancient relic is an important find for science. According to him, the site of the discovery is generally believed to have once been a swamp. So it is likely that the animal died there thousands of years ago.

The bones of the ancient animal were uncovered by the falling water level of the Danube. The river’s level has dropped to record lows in recent weeks as a result of prolonged heat waves and drought this summer.

The drought has affected rivers across Europe, including important waterways like the Rhine.