Rare excavation pulls bones from Wyoming cave

In an image provided by the Bureau of Land Management, date not known, Bureau of Land Management cave specialist Bryan McKenzie rappels into Natural Trap Cave in north-central Wyoming during a cleanup expedition. The cave holds the remains of tens of thousands of animals, including many now-extinct species, from the late Pleistocene period tens of thousands of years ago. Starting July 28, 2014, scientists plan to venture back into the cave and resume digging for the first time in more than 30 years. (AP Photo/Bureau of Land Management)
This July 2014 image provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows Justin Sipla, from left, Julie Meachen, and Jenna Kaempfer collecting samples for analysis inside the Natural Trap Cave in north-central Wyoming. The cave holds the remains of tens of thousands of animals, including many now-extinct species, from the late Pleistocene period tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists have resumed digging for the first time in more than 30 years.
This July 2014 image provided by the Bureau of Land Management shows researchers in the interior of the Natural Trap Cave in north-central Wyoming. The cave holds the remains of tens of thousands of animals, including many now-extinct species, from the late Pleistocene period tens of thousands of years ago. Scientists have resumed digging for the first time in more than 30 years.

By The Associated Press | The Associated Press

PUBLISHED: August 7, 2014 at 2:24 p.m. | UPDATED: April 27, 2016 at 4:47 a.m.

CHEYENNE — North American lions, cheetahs and short-faced bears: Those are just a few fearsome critters from 25,000 years ago that paleontologists already might have found in their first excavation of a bizarre cave in 30 years.

“They’re very excited about the potential for what they’ve found,” Brent Breit-haupt, who was among the exclusive group of scientists who recently rappelled down eight stories to excavate the floor of Natural Trap Cave, said Wednesday.

The only way in or out of Natural Trap Cave is a 15-foot-wide hole in the ground that’s almost impossible to see until you’re next to it. Over tens of thousands of years, several thousand insufficiently wary animals plummeted more than 80 feet into the chilly, dim, cathedral-like cavern.

Over the past two weeks, bucket after bucket, by rope and pulley, some 10 to 20 paleontologists, their assistants and a few spelunking experts have been hauling bones and bone-bearing sediment up into the sunlight.