Kicker: State fossil

NICK EICHER, HOST: You’ve heard of official state flowers and state birds?

Well, Alaska has an official state fossil—the long-extinct woolly mammoth.

So when a mammoth tusk, thousands of years old, went missing from a museum in Anchorage recently, folks were perturbed.

Police say a thief broke in and stole the artifact.

Quite a stunt, as it’s five-and-a-half feet long and weighs 100 pounds.

Museum Officials worry the thriving black market in mammoth ivory means they won’t get the tusk back.  

They’re offering a $500 reward for its return. And they’re probably going to have to sweeten the pot a bit.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

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