05/26/2025
In 1979, gold miners working near Fairbanks, Alaska, made a stunning discovery beneath the permafrost—not gold, but the frozen remains of a steppe bison that had been extinct for thousands of years. Nicknamed “Blue Babe” because of the bluish hue on its hide caused by mineral deposits, the animal had been remarkably preserved by the icy ground. This eerie blue tint, along with the bison’s nearly intact body, sparked immediate scientific interest.
Researchers later determined that Blue Babe was roughly 36,000 years old and had likely fallen prey to an American lion, one of the Ice Age’s most formidable predators. Soon after its death, rapid freezing preserved the carcass, creating a natural time capsule from the Pleistocene era. In 1984, Professor Dale Guthrie of the University of Alaska led the excavation and study of the bison, uncovering new details about the ecosystem and wildlife of the Ice Age.
One of the more unexpected chapters in Blue Babe’s story came when Guthrie decided to cook a piece of the bison’s neck into a stew. On April 6, 1984, he and eleven colleagues sat down to taste the ancient meat, which was said to resemble aged beef with a distinct earthy flavor. Remarkably, no one became ill. It was a rare and surreal moment where science, curiosity, and prehistory met—bringing a bite of the Ice Age to the modern world.
