Is this a video showing a woolly mammoth crossing a river in Siberia? Probably not, but it’s an intriguing possibility.

There are three possibilities here. 1. It’s actually a woolly mammoth. 2. It’s a hoax, either by way of intentionally blurring the video to hide the truth, or by the use of Photoshop. 3. It’s a misreading of the situation.

I think we can safely count out the first option. The woolly mammoth has been extinct for 4,000 years, it isn’t coming back. Which leaves a combination of numbers 2 and 3.

My guess is this is a bear crossing the river. Possibly carrying a fish in its mouth. Maybe the cameraman knows this, maybe he doesn’t. But why not keep everything ambiguous to sell a story and start a mystery?