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Russian scientists claimed

they have discovered blood in the carcass of a woolly mammoth

An expedition led by Russian scientists earlier this month uncovered the well-preserved carcass of a female mammoth on a remote island in the Arctic Ocean

the head of the expedition, said the animal died at the age of around 60 some 10,000 to 15,000 years ago

it was the first time that an old female had been found.

what was

surprising was that the carcass was so well preserved that it still had blood and muscle tissue.

broke the ice beneath her stomach, the blood flowed out from there, it was very dark

the muscle tissue is also red, the colour of fresh meat

the lower part of the carcass was very well preserved as it ended up in a pool of water that later froze over. The upper part of the body including the back and the head are believed to have been eaten by predators

The discovery

gives new hope to researchers in their quest to bring the woolly mammoth back to life.

gives

a really good chance of finding live cells which can help

clone a mammoth

Previous mammoths have not had such well-preserved tissue

Last year,

signed a deal with cloning pioneer Hwang Woo-Suk of South Korea's Sooam Biotech Research Foundation, who in 2005 created the world's first cloned dog.

mammoth specialists from South Korea, Russia and the United States are expected to study the remains which the Russian scientists are now keeping at an undisclosed northern location

part of a BBC/Discovery Channel-funded expedition and is believed to be at least 10,000 years old, if not older

If further study confirms the preliminary findings, it would be the first mammoth carcass revealing signs of human interaction in the region.

in such good shape that much of its flesh is still intact, retaining its pink color. The blonde-red hue of Yuka's woolly coat also remains.

first relatively complete mammoth carcass -- that is, a body with soft tissues preserved -- to show evidence of human association

carbon dating is still in the works, the researchers believe Yuka died at least 10,000 years ago, but may be much older

The animal was about 2 ½ years old when it died.

appears that Yuka was pursued by one or more lions or another large field, judging from deep, unhealed scratches in the hide and bite marks on the tail

Yuka then apparently fell, breaking one of the lower hind legs

humans may have moved in to control the carcass, butchering much of the animal and removing parts that they would use immediately.

may, in fact, have reburied the rest of the carcass to keep it in reserve for possible later use

removed parts include most of the main core mass of Yuka's body, including organs, vertebrae, ribs, associated musculature, and some of the meat from upper parts of the legs

Kevin Campbell of the University of Manitoba also studied Yuka

Campbell famously published the genetic code of mammoth hemoglobin a few years ago

Most permafrost-preserved mammoth specimens consist solely of bones or bone fragments that currently provide little new insight into the species' biology in life

This extremely rare finding of a near complete specimen, like the discovery of the baby mammoth Lyuba in 2007, will be a boon to researchers as it will help them link observed phenotypes (morphological features that we can see) with genotype (DNA sequences)."

Such information could help reveal whether or not mammoths had all of the same hair colors that humans do

An intriguing and controversial application would be to bring a mammoth back to life via cloning.

producer and director of a forthcoming BBC/Discovery Channel show called "Woolly Mammoth"

told Discovery News that cloning a mammoth could take years or even decades.

By analysing the teeth and tusks, the team estimate Yuka was about two and a half years old when it died.

Teeth, tusks and bone are the most common ways extinct animals such as mammoths are studied

these parts of the body take a relatively long time to decompose.

Soft tissues such as muscle, skin and internal organs decompose far quicker, and are very rarely found on old carcasses. This means that vital information is usually lost.

much of Yuka's soft tissue as well as its woolly coat has remained intact

Yuka provides direct evidence that mammoths did have lighter-coloured coats.

possibility of mammoths having lighter coat colours was proposed in 2006 after scientists studied the genes extracted solely from a mammoth bone.

One of the most striking things about Yuka is its strawberry-blonde hair,

Healed scratches found on the skin indicate a lion attack that Yuka survived earlier in its relatively short life

lions in question (Panthera leo spelea) are an extinct subspecies of the African lion, known commonly as Eurasian cave lions but were present at the same time as the mammoths.

Did we know lions hunted mammoths? Well, we guessed they did. But could we ever have expected to see such graphic evidence? No - but here it is,"

skull, spine, ribs and pelvis were all removed from Yuka's body

skull and pelvis were found nearby

most of the spine and three-quarters of the ribs are missing.

scalloped mark on the skin is made up by 15-30 small, serrations that "could be the saw-like motion of a human tool

Were humans using the lions to catch mammoths and then moving the lions off their kill

wouldn't have thought about it without seeing it [the evidence]."

Woolly Mammoth: Secrets from the Ice is on BBC Two at 21:00 BST on Wednesday 4 April and will be shown on the Discovery Channel in the US at a future date.