The mammoth is not just an attractive image in a biology textbook but also a significant export sector for Russia, particularly the Sakha Republic; it supports indigenous minority businesses, offers promising prospects in genetic engineering and potentially represents the future of Polar tourism. Its extinction doesn't bother anyone. On the contrary, it sparks the interest of both the scientific community and regional visitors. In April 2024, during the Pleistocene mammoth fauna palaeontology days, a roundtable was held at Yakutia's exhibit at VDNH, featuring scientists from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Project Office for Arctic Development (POAD). The event explored the past and future of all remaining mammoths in Russia.

According to Nikolay Doronin, Chairman of POAD, the mammoth has the potential to become a fully-fledged tourist brand, attracting numerous Russian and foreign tourists to the Arctic. Currently, the museums and research centres of the Sakha Republic house a unique collection of Pleistocene epoch palaeontological materials. Based solely on the findings from B.S. Rusanov, N.K. Vereshchagin and P.A. Lazarev expedition in 1970–1971, 8.5 thousand samples of mammoth bone were discovered and documented. The Berelekh mammoth graveyard is considered the largest in both Russia and the world. Furthermore, approximately 80% of the world's mammoth bone is found in the permafrost of Yakutia. This equates to roughly 500 thousand tons, which can also be mined for commercial purposes. For instance, in January, a shipment of 714.5 kg of woolly mammoth tusks was sent from Irkutsk to Hong Kong. This unique material is highly sought after in China and other Southeast Asian countries as a base for traditional medicine, artwork and local religious practices. Bone mining is a lucrative business for many indigenous people in Yakutia—with a license, 'hunters' can earn a substantial income during the season. In procurement, mammoth bones are priced at an average of RUB 35,000 per kilogram.   

Today, all the conditions are in place to transform the mammoth into a fully-fledged brand—the combination of active scientific and commercial activities creates a fertile environment for tourism centred around the extinct woolly mammoth. In addition to museums and exhibitions, visitors to the region can partake in Arctic safaris in search of remnants of the Pleistocene past, thematic expeditions and a range of cultural and educational events. The World Mammoth Centre should become the main attraction, as part of the programme of the Scientific and Educational Centre North: Territory of Sustainable Development. Currently, it is preparing scientific personnel and constructing storage facilities, but it will also undertake educational activities in the future. It will include the Ice Age Park, which will seamlessly blend a research site with a Pleistocene-era immersion attraction.

A notable project in the mammoth narrative is the ambitious endeavour to clone a mammoth. The Mammoth Effect Foundation has conducted preliminary work to extract suitable biological material from expeditions. The North-Eastern Federal University houses Russia's only laboratory for studying palaeontological samples at the cellular level—it is believed that theoretically, cloning a mammoth is possible. While this is a task for the coming decades with no guaranteed success, the mere thought of herds of mammoths roaming the Yakutian Arctic tundra makes all efforts seem worthwhile. The project has been included in the AZRF development strategy by presidential decree.

Developing a brand for Arctic tourism is timely—in 2023, the number of visitors to the Polar region exceeded 1.1 million people. This was announced by Aleksey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic, who emphasised that the department's goal is to ensure 'Russia's leadership in Arctic science and technologies for the development of the North.' Perhaps the soft fur and powerful tusk of the mammoth will become another cornerstone in the robust foundation of Arctic development.