Three Men Charged With Illegal Possession of Dinosaur Bones

By M.OYUNGEREL

Khan-Uul Traffic Police Department has arrested three men transporting illegally obtained dinosaur bones on January 17 at around 6:00 p.m.

Two of the men were residents of Dalanzadgad soum, Umnugovi Province, and the third was from Ulaanbaatar. They were travelling in a Jeep in 11th khoroo of Khan-Uul District when the Traffic Police Department and Investigation Division of Crimes Against Regulations of Environmental Protection (IDCREP) apprehended them.

The IDCREP confiscated the bones, which were found to have been obtained through illegal paleontological excavations, and transferred them to theMongolian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Paleontology and Geology.

"We received a full skeleton and skull of a Protoceratops, and a skeleton of a baby Hadrosaurus, commonly known as duck-billed dinosaur. The Protoceratops andrewsi bones could almost be considered complete. The excavators didn't use proper methods for excavation and transportation, which damaged some of the bones," said a scientist in the Institute of Paleontology and Geology.

He noted that the findings date back to as far back as 84 million years and were most likely found from Umnugovi Province.

"The other finding, the bones of a baby Hadrosauridas, is 19.5#21515.5 in size, and is incomplete, with missing skeletal bones.We're predicting that the findings were from Tugrugiin Shiree of Bulgan soum, Umnugovi Province. These bones are approximately 71 to 84 million years old," he said.

"We will work to include the findings in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, and in scientific studies. But before that, the police and law enforcement organizations should settle the case," he added.

All police units have started working together under the Sar Shine-2016 campaign, initiated by the Head of the General Police Department R.Chingis, to intensify crime prevention and crime detection. The IDCREP of the State Investigation Department started patrols to fight illegal loggers and illegal miners after they detected the three men...