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<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p><span style="font-size:23.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1E9B00">MEDIA ADVISORY</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><img width="67" height="201" id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:b4ee8132-7b10-4b91-b662-7c84a3927276" name="null"><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">March 4, 2016<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><strong> </strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Weather Alert: Icy temperatures forecast for
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Royal BC Museum this summer<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Victoria, BC</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""> - Move over El Ni</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt">ñ</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">o,
another major climatic event is on its way. The Royal BC Museum in Victoria is forecast to descend into a deep freeze this summer when woolly mammoths and other giants of the Ice Age return for the first time in more than 10,000 years.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><strong> </strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">This summer’s feature exhibition
<b><i>Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age</i></b> will transport visitors back to a time great beasts dominated the world and ancient peoples struggled to survive in a rapidly changing environment. The exhibition opens June 3 and runs through Dec. 31, 2016.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Everything about
<b><i>Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age</i></b> is on a huge scale. Visitors can walk among fleshed-out models of these imposing creatures that stood more than 4 meters (14 feet) tall and weighed as much as seven tonnes (8 tons).<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">The exhibition, presented in partnership with Chicago’s Field Museum, includes an exceptional collection of fossils, preserved mammoth
flesh, immersive multimedia and engaging interactive displays. Visitors will be able to touch real mammoth tusks and mastodon teeth, and learn about some of their fierce neighbours such as dire wolves, saber-toothed cats and short-faced bears.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Many rare objects are also on display including early cave art, huge skulls and tusks, and weird and wonderful mammoth relatives – including
dwarf mammoths that lived on California’s Channel Islands.</span><span lang="EN-US">
</span><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Visitors to
<b><i>Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age</i></b> will learn how scientists excavate and discover more about these majestic animals, their eventual extinction and whether it is possible (or even ethical) to clone them today.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">“This exhibition will change the way people think about the Ice Age,” said Prof. Jack Lohman, Royal BC Museum CEO. “New research by Royal
BC Museum scientists and others is unraveling some of the most puzzling mysteries about mammoths and the effects of climate change. It’s a story for our times told through fossils and trailblazing science.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Coinciding with the exhibition, the Royal BC Museum will unveil a major update to its Natural History-Woolly Mammoth gallery. Hands-on,
interactive displays will present the latest scientific and archeological discoveries, revealing our most complete understanding to date of life in British Columbia during the Ice Age.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Mammoths towered over everything in North America, Europe, and Asia during the Pleistocene Epoch, known as the Ice Age, from about 1.8
million years ago to as recently as 10,000 years ago. These wonderfully successful creatures thrived in diverse ecosystems – from the temperate grasslands to the wind-swept steppes of the frozen north. They were a source of food and artistic inspiration for
our ancient ancestors. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">However, despite their size, or perhaps because of it, these early cousins of the elephant went extinct. Thankfully they left us an abundant
fossil record, including many important specimens from right here in British Columbia.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">For more information and a full calendar of exhibition-related special events, including summer kids camps, visit
<b>www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca </b>and<b> </b>follow <b>#RBCMammoths</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age
</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">is presented with lead marketing partner Tourism Victoria.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">About the Royal BC Museum
<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">The Royal BC Museum explores the province's human history and natural history, advances new knowledge and understanding of BC, and provides
a dynamic forum for discussion and a place for reflection. </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">The museum and archives celebrate culture and history, telling the stories of BC in ways that enlighten, stimulate and inspire.
Looking to the future, the Royal BC Museum will be a refreshed, modern museum, extending its reach far beyond Victoria as a world-class cultural venue and repository of digital treasures.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><span style="color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">- 30 -<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p><strong> </strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Media contact:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">250-387-3207<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><a href="mailto:news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background:white"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><img border="0" width="19" height="16" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image001.png@01D17628.710A12B0" alt="Twitter_logo_blue"></span><a href="https://twitter.com/RoyalBCMuseum"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">@RoyalBCMuseum</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Univers LT Pro 55"">
#RBCMammoths</span></span><o:p></o:p></p>
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