Remains of a woolly mammoth have been exposed in the bed of the Danube River in Bulgaria, where an extreme drought has driven water levels to historic lows.
A resident of the village of Ryahovo discovered a lower jaw, two tusks, a shoulder blade and ribs on July 29, 2026. Nikolay Nenov, director of the Regional Historical Museum, confirmed the bones belong to a mammoth. Specialists from the museum in Ruse have begun recovering and transporting the remains, though large portions of the skeleton may still lie buried in sand at the site, which was once a swamp.
The woolly mammoth roamed the region between 7,000 and 10,000 years ago. The Danube's water level has remained extremely low for weeks, revealing relics normally hidden beneath the river.