42,000-year-old baby mammoth on show in Hong Kong

The world's best-preserved mammoth, buried about 42,000 years ago, will go on display in Hong Kong this week, the organiser of its first exhibition in Asia said Wednesday.

Discovered in the permafrost of Russia's Yamal Peninsula in 2007 by a reindeer herder, the female baby mammoth named Lyuba remained almost fully intact with organs and eyelashes preserved.

Only her toenails, part of her tail, right ear and fur were missing.

Traces of her mother's milk were even found in Lyuba's stomach, said the IFC mall, the city's posh harbourfront shopping centre, which will showcase the animal for a month from Thursday.

Lyuba, which means "love" in Russian, has previously toured North America.

Scientists have said they believe the ice-age mammal was only a few months old when she probably drowned in a mudslide, which "pickled" her in near-perfect condition.

(c) 2012 AFP