(cm) Following the 1991 discovery in the Hauslabjoch glacier of the iceman "Ötzi", at the beginning of August natives of the same region of southern Tyrol found a mummified hare on the Hochferner glacier at 3,000 metres altitude, part of the Pfitsch community. Part of the mummy is now on its way to ETH Zurich, where Georges Bonani from the Institute for Particle Physics will determine its age using radiocarbon dating (1). According to a press release from the state of South Tyrol, the investigation carried out at ETH should yield results within a few weeks.

It will then emerge, so Angelika Fleckinger, Director of the Archaeological Museum in Bozen (2), whether the discovered mummy is of interest to palaeo-zoologists, glacier researchers or for the databases of animals that still exist today. Because, in principle, dead animals could become mummified very quickly and the hare in question might have died as recently as a year ago. A genetic examination is also to be carried out to determine the species and subspecies of the mummified creature.

Fleckinger is pleased that the local population has become sensitised by the emergence from the glacier of the mummy that was given the name of Ötzi and that the remains of an animal have now been brought down from the glacier. Bonani was also responsible for the examination of this mummified human male in 1991 and in determining its age. In 2003 further ETH scientists carried out a study that proved that Ötzi had lived in South Tyrol (3).