‘These beasts are made for walking’: Woolly mammoth took enough steps to nearly circle the Earth twice

If you found yourself standing in Alaska during the last ice age, chances are you would meet a woolly mammoth on the move.

But was this shaggy beast taking a quick stroll or a long hike? Was it alone, or travelling in a herd?

Well, now we know.

An international team of scientists has unravelled the travel diary of a woolly mammoth, stored in its 17,000-year-old tusk.

And it turns out the mammoth this particular tusk belonged to was indeed quite the traveller, taking enough steps over Alaska during its life to nearly circle the Earth twice.