In a latest discovery, a woolly mammoth tusk has been found at a gravel pit east of Saskatoon. It is believed to be between 12,000 and 15,000 years old. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum’s Tim Tokaryk said that the fossil was discovered by Inland Aggregates at their work site in previous fall.

Tokaryk said that researchers would get some help from the tusk in expanding their knowledge of where woolly mammoths once used to roam. He also said that such discoveries at in work areas are quite rare.

He said that the good thing was that the company contacted the museum instantly, as an ivory fossil can fall into pieces immediately after it is unearthed. The museum was able to identify and preserve the tusk rapidly, all because of the swift action taken by the company.

In a release on Monday, Tokaryk said that ivory conservation from fossil animals is quite delicate. When the tusk gets exposed to air, it starts drying out, expands and cracks down.

He added, “If left untreated, it would be totally destroyed. We certainly appreciate Inland Aggregates and their workers in the discovery of this find. It would be lost to everyone if it had not been for them”.

The operations manager with Inland Aggregates, Derek Lucik said that an operator saw the tusk when he was stockpiling gravel. Lucik said that it was not strange in their Alberta locations and that usually contact the museum, so they decided to do the same thing in this case too.