France Returns 70-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Skeleton to Mongolia After Decade-Long Dispute

France has officially begun the repatriation of a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton to Mongolia, nearly a decade after the fossil was looted from the Gobi Desert and later intercepted by French customs. The specimen, a rare Tarbosaurus bataar—the Asian cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex—was confiscated in 2015 in the central French town of Gannat after being smuggled through South Korea. Public Accounts Minister Amélie de Montchalin is set to formally hand over the skeleton along with approximately 30 other fossils, including dinosaur eggs. Sophie Hocquerelle, a French customs official, described the Tarbosaurus as 'an exceptional discovery,' noting that its value has skyrocketed since its seizure, potentially reaching two to three times its original estimated worth of 700,000 euros. Mongolia has long sought to reclaim fossils looted from the Gobi Desert, a region that has been a target for both paleontologists and smugglers since explorer Roy Chapman Andrews unearthed dinosaur eggs there a century ago. Under Mongolian law, fossils cannot be exported without explicit authorization and are typically returned when seized abroad. The repatriation comes amid growing global scrutiny of fossil trafficking, highlighted by high-profile sales such as the record-breaking triceratops auction in Paris in 2021, where an eight-meter specimen fetched 6.6 million euros. This case marks a significant step in the fight against the illegal fossil trade and the preservation of cultural heritage.