Lenny the dinosaur is thought to have lived and died in what is now the Mongolian Gobi Desert. As a T-rex, he would have enjoyed considerable status in the local pecking order, but that’s nothing compared to the level of fame his posthumous adventures have gained him.
Smuggled into the USA via Britain by a cunning gang of dinosaur bone looters, Lenny’s skeleton was impounded by the authorities from a New York auction house, where it had been put on sale for over a million dollars.
Cloistered in a plush Manhattan hotel room, leading US legal officials repatriated the nearly 24ft by 8ft remains back to a relieved Mongolian delegation, who had been tipped off by American paleontologists who saw the raptor listed for auction. As long as Lenny is returned safely, the Mongolian government has stated that it will not seek to press criminal charges. According to one American facilitator, the international exchange has been “Like a cross between Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes.”
According to one American facilitator, the international exchange has been “Like a cross between Indiana Jones and Sherlock Holmes.”
The Great Tyrannosaurus bataar will be joined on his voyage home by a host of other looted dinosaur remains following an agreement with an American dealer. Chief of staff of the Mongolian president Tsagaan Puntsag was clearly delighted with the return of Lenny, referring to him as a “hero dinosaur in Mongolia”.According to Oyungerel Tsedevdamba, the country’s minister of culture, sport and tourism, the dinosaur will be the centre piece of a newly-built Mongolian dinosaur museum, saying, “The Mongolian people are very happy that he is coming home.”
The dramatic case has the secretive world of paleontological dealing into public attention. According to Mongolian law, any dinosaur found within its automatically becomes state property, and no legal exports can take place. In spite of this, specimens from the region regularly show up on international markets. Mongolia is a treasure trove of dinosaur remains, and has yielded some of the most significant paleontological finds of the past century- a heritage which the country is eager to protect.
