I was unsure if this should go in "Pets and Gardens," or "Wilderness, Wildlife and Ecology," so i decided that i'd put the story here. The Paris branch of Christie's auction house offered an unusual sale yesterday, selling, among other things, the skeleton of a mammoth which was found in Siberia, a meteorite weighing more than 300 pounds, and also the skeletons of a rhinoceros and a prehistoric bear, thought to be a "cave bear." I have not found an article on this in English yet,
but if you can read French, you can read about it here. The mammoth skeleton sold for more than 300,000 Euros when costs and taxes were included (it was knocked down for a bid of 260,000 Euros).
On the radio this morning, i heard that it was bought by an unnamed European collector, who was only described as someone known for collecting art and antique furniture. Furniture ? ! ? ! ? A mammoth skeleton as furniture?