Life-size woolly mammoth takes shape at New York museum

Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A life-size replica of an Ice Age woolly mammoth is taking shape at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, where workers assembled the massive animal's head and tusks Monday in preparation for a new exhibit.

The exhibition "The Secret World of Elephants," which reveals new science about ancient and modern elephants, is scheduled to open to the public on Nov. 13.

The large woolly mammoth, which is depicted in the process of shedding its winter coat, stands near a full-scale model of an African elephant with projection offering an inside look at how it processes between 300 and 500 pounds of food a day.

While the exhibit shows how elephants remain powerful religious and political symbols in many cultures today, it will also show the human toll of climate change and the killing of elephants for ivory.

Today, only three elephant species survive.