// Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP
France and the USA are actively returning Mongolian cultural artifacts, unlike other countries that do not fulfill their return obligations.
The dinosaur skeleton was stolen from the Gobi Desert and, after passing through South Korea, was confiscated by French customs in the central part of the country in February 2015.
On Monday, Mongolia received from France a 70-million-dollar dinosaur skeleton that was stolen from the Gobi Desert and subsequently confiscated by customs.
The unique fossil Tarbosaurus bataar, related to the famous Tyrannosaurus rex, was seized by French authorities in 2015.
At a ceremony in Paris, Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin handed over the skeleton and other items, including dinosaur eggs, to Mongolia's Minister of Culture Undram Chinbat.
“Today, part of the Gobi Desert returns to its homeland,” noted de Montchalin.
“This is the result of a long and thorough investigation. We are returning scientific and cultural heritage,” she added.
The dinosaur skeleton was stolen from the Gobi Desert and, after passing through South Korea, was confiscated by French customs in the central part of the country in February 2015.
// Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP
“It is very important for me and for the entire Mongolian people to return dinosaur fossils,” emphasized Undram Chinbat, thanking France for its assistance.
She added that the fossils will be displayed in a new museum that Mongolia plans to open in the near future.
“While the fossils are being returned, they will be studied and restored,” she told AFP.
– “An exceptional discovery”
Sophie Ockereel, a representative of French customs, reported over the weekend to France 2 that the discovery of a “whole” dinosaur skeleton was an “exceptional discovery.” She noted that at the time of confiscation, the value of the find was estimated at around €700,000 (over $800,000 at current exchange rates).
“However, since then the market has changed significantly, and now its value could be two to three times higher,” Ockereel added.
Tarbosaurus bataar lived during the Cretaceous period and went extinct about 65 million years ago.
// Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP
Outside of Asia, fossils of the T.bataar species have not been found.
Since American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews, who became the prototype for the character of “Indiana Jones,” discovered dinosaur eggs a hundred years ago, numerous fossils have disappeared from Mongolia.
Since then, the desert has been visited by both paleontologists and smugglers.
Mongolia is actively working to recover lost relics, hoping to return fossils that have long been kept in foreign museums and private collections.
The country believes that all fossils found in the Gobi Desert, especially in the Nemeght geological formation, are state property and prohibits their export.
Special permission is required for the export of fossils, and without it, they are usually returned.
In 2015, actor Nicolas Cage agreed to return a dinosaur skull he purchased for $276,000 after it was discovered that it had been smuggled from Mongolia.
// Dimitar DILKOFF/AFP
Cage acquired the Tarbosaurus bataar fossil at an auction in New York in 2007.
In 2014, the Department of Homeland Security notified him that a long-term investigation had established that the fossils had been illegally exported from Mongolia.
Cage, known for his passion for collecting, reportedly competed with Leonardo DiCaprio to purchase this fossil.
Dinosaur appeared on Earth at least 230 million years ago, while the first humans emerged only about six million years ago.
Tatar S.Maidar
source: MiddleAsianNews
