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<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Weather Alert: Icy temperatures forecast for Royal BC Museum this summer
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Victoria, BC - Move over El Ni</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"">ñ</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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 class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age
</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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.
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<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Everything about <i>Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age
</i>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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Visitors to <i>Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age
</i>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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">“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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">For more information and a full calendar of exhibition-related special events, including summer kids camps, visit
<a href="http://www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca">www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca</a> and follow #RBCMammoths.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt">Mammoths: Giants of the Ice Age
</span></i><span style="font-size:10.0pt">is presented with lead marketing partner Tourism Victoria.
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<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">About the Royal BC Museum <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">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. 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>
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<p class="Default" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">- 30 –<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">Media contact:
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<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext">250-387-3207 <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="Default"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext"><a href="mailto:news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca">news@royalbcmuseum.bc.ca</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt">@RoyalBCMuseum #RBCMammoths</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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