Batagay

The racing predator was seen 60km south of Batagai, north-east from republic’s capital Yakutsk.

Today, the fault measures around a kilometer in length, 800 meters in width and 100 meters in depth, making it the largest permafrost thermokarst sinkhole in the world. Its shape is reminiscent of a gigantic mollusc with a tail.

The fires are now raging some 10 to 15 kilometers from the megaslump crater - a large hole in the frozen Arctic soil which highlights the dramatic speed of thawing permafrost.

Permafrost preserved the ‘oldest blood in the world’ boosting hopes of bringing extinct species back to life.