At the end of the 60s, a detachment of Leningrad geologists, who were searching for diamond placers in the Indigirka River basin (one of the most unexplored corners of Russia to this day), established their base camp on the shore of Lake Labynkor.
This lake is known for the fact that, since the 50s, hunters and fishermen have repeatedly observed some strange creature in it, moving jerkily along the water surface.
Geologist V. A. Tverdokhlebov was the first to notice it in July 1953. It was a sunny, quiet day. Viktor Aleksandrovich and his assistant Boris Bashkatov, being on the river terrace, saw a strange animal swimming towards a nearby cape. Soon they were able to clearly see the wide front part of the torso (about two meters). They determined the length of the body, seen under a layer of transparent water, at 6-8 meters. The color of the animal was dark gray, and on the sides of the head, which looked like a bull, two light spots were visible. It must have weighed several tons!
Having swam to the cape, the animal vigorously beat in the water, raising cascades of splashes. Soon it disappeared from the sight of observers. Since there was no specialist among the geologists, and rumors about a mysterious either a bull or a snake spread with the speed of an echo across Siberia, it was decided to assign an experienced biologist, candidate of sciences Boris Sergeevich Shlikman, to one of the geological expeditions.
In the detachment of diamond seekers, the biologist was not liked for his addiction to chifir and the isolation that the scientist demonstrated in relation to the friendly team of prospectors. Schlickman often went on the route alone without the consent of the head of the field party, without even warning when he intended to return. Soon everyone got used to it, and the leader of the group in his heart was even glad that he did not see this lanky, overgrown with stubble type for a long time.
In general, the field season was normal. It was not possible to find diamonds even in concentrates (bottom material, which may contain valuable minerals). And already at the end of the field season, Schlikman, who returned to the camp from the campaign, stunned everyone with the message that he had discovered a large burial of bison bones (!) In the vicinity of the Nerskoe Highlands.
The biologist categorically stated that he did not exclude the possibility of the existence of relict ungulates up to the present day and noted that eyewitnesses who reported the observation of the "Yakut Nessie" could actually see a bison. In addition, they noted that the "snake" had rather large and sharp horns!
Moreover, Schlikman found among the piled-up bone mass a small crystal of green garnet-demantoid, a mineral that is not at all typical for these places. Schlickman explained this finding quite simply. Bison, like all other ungulate species, like to swallow hard pebbles along with pasture, which aid their digestion. Now geologists have an incentive to conduct a passing search not only for diamonds, but also for green garnets. However, the field season is over. Snow fell earlier than usual, and everyone left for Leningrad.
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Later it became known that Schlikman independently went to Eastern Siberia to collect materials about Siberian bison. He knew that even 300 years ago, countless herds of these animals, at the most conservative estimate of 60 million, roamed the vastness of North America. Judging by the finds of bones in Eastern Siberia, they also lived here.
The conditions for the existence of these giants on the territory of present-day Russia and America were quite similar, and the geological processes of raising and lowering the land in the Bering Strait region allowed the bison to periodically move from mainland to mainland via a land bridge. The beast, which weighed tons, was so well adapted to the harsh conditions of the north that the population of this species grew continuously.
However, later the appearance of European colonists in North America led to the massive extermination of bison. Their meat was delicious, the skins were used to make leather harnesses, shoes and clothing, and buttons, combs, paints and fertilizers were made from horns and bones.
Especially many buffaloes were killed after the Trans-American Railway went into operation. Many Americans spent their free time on trains, shooting defenseless animals from their windows on the move.
In the early 70s of the last century, a certain William Cody killed 4280 buffalo in 18 months! Many American Indians, who ate bison meat, began to starve and died in masses from exhaustion, which allowed the white colonialists to freely take over their land. Schlikman knew about all this, reasonably believing that in uninhabited regions of Siberia, giant bison could well have survived to this day.
Schlickman's hike could be a sensation for science if he could find the smallest animal population. But the biologist was not destined to return home. Local Yakut residents last saw a scientist passing through a livestock village towards the Kallakh ridge in the summer of 1970. Schlickman told them that he had found a small herd of large bison in the basin of the Khandyga River (left tributary of the Aldan) …
And just recently, having visited the exhibition and sale of gems in St. Petersburg, the author of these lines saw beautiful green garnets, which were traded by a 30-year-old geologist from Yakutsk. When asked where the gems were found, the geologist indicated exactly the place, to some Schlickman discovered his first and last green garnet. This recognition became an indirect confirmation of the fact that a giant bison, having swallowed a pomegranate with tundra grass, could still live here in the middle of this century.
Yuri METELEV