Guess who’s 40? World-famous B.C. woolly mammoth marks a milestone

Wearing a party hat and a 40th birthday button, the world’s most-photographed mammoth replica comes out of the ice age — and into middle age.”The woolly mammoth is one of the most iconic aspects of the museum, everyone knows about the woolly mammoth and comes to visit it,” says the Royal B.C. Museum’s Chris O’Connor.

It’s only fitting the Royal B.C. Museum (RBCM) is throwing a mammoth birthday bash for its best-loved beast — complete with cute mini mammoth stuffies, hand-made cards, and one giant one fit for….a mammoth.

“It’s younger than I am, which is amazing, because he has a lot more hair than I do!” jokes one visitor at the party.

For those who’ve visited the mammoth named Woolly over the decades, it’s a walk down memory lane.

“I’ve kind of grown up with it,” a party participant tells CHEK News. “I’m from Victoria and we used to come and visit quite often.”

The kid-friendly pachyderm party — mammoths are ancestors of today’s elephant and had tusks up to 15 feet or 4.5 metres long — includes crafts and an educational animation station.

It’s also chance to learn more about this experiential exhibit designed to make you feel like you’re visiting the last ice age.”They built it in such that it really felt like the mammoth was almost going to be walking over you,” O’Connor explains.

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Woolly mammoths went extinct 10,000 years ago, except for a few that survived much longer in Siberia.

But this famous replica is standing the test of time as he celebrates the big 4-0.