In 1998 the Dolgans led Buigues to an almost perfectly preserved mammoth. The following year, Buigues organised an expedition to dig te mammoth out of the ground and take it to a special laboratory to be studied. The biggest challenge was to remove the mammoth from the ice so that it could be moved. It took six weeks to dig around the mammoth to cut out a 20-tonne block of ice. At the end of October a helicopter arrived and carried the block 320 kilometres to the laboratory. Because of this expedition, the world will have a greater understanding of these huge animals.