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Extinct Ice Age Animals Overview

The Woolly Mammoth was an enormous mammal closely related to modern elephants that lived during the last ice age, growing up to 4 meters tall and weighing over 6 tons with long fur and hair to withstand the cold; it went extinct around 1700BC likely due to a combination of hunting, climate change, and habitat loss. The Baiji White Dolphin was found only in China's Yangtze River, growing up to 8 feet long; its population declined drastically from the 1950s due to industrialization of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity causing loss of food and increased boat accidents and pollution, with the last confirmed sighting in 2002.

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14 views1 page

Extinct Ice Age Animals Overview

The Woolly Mammoth was an enormous mammal closely related to modern elephants that lived during the last ice age, growing up to 4 meters tall and weighing over 6 tons with long fur and hair to withstand the cold; it went extinct around 1700BC likely due to a combination of hunting, climate change, and habitat loss. The Baiji White Dolphin was found only in China's Yangtze River, growing up to 8 feet long; its population declined drastically from the 1950s due to industrialization of the river for fishing, transportation, and hydroelectricity causing loss of food and increased boat accidents and pollution, with the last confirmed sighting in 2002.

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nikhilshah612
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© All Rights Reserved
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Extinct Animals of the World

Woolly Mammoth

An enormous mammal, believed to be closely related to the modern-day elephant. Its ancestors migrated out of Africa
about 3.5 million years ago, spreading across northern Eurasia and North America; it is thought the Woolly Mammoth
first appeared more than 400,000 years ago. The creature could reach heights of 4 metres or more and could weigh
over 6 tons! Covered in fur with an outer covering of long hairs, short ears and tail to minimise heat loss and frost bite,
it was well adapted to the cold environment it existed in during the last ice-age. Its curved tusks could easily be up to 5
metres long! The Woolly Mammoth eventually disappeared from its mainland range 10,000 years ago, the cause of
this is most likely through a combination of hunting by humans, climate change (rapidly melting ice had an enormous
impact on their demise) and the disappearance of its habitat. The last of the isolated woolly mammoth populations is
believed to have vanished from Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean around 1700BC.

Baiji White Dolphin

Also called the Chinese River Dolphin, found only in the Yangtze River in China. The Baiji could grow to eight feet long
and weigh up to a quarter of a ton. With tiny eyes and a long thin rostrum, the Baiji had very poor eyesight and relied
on echolocation to navigate and hunt for prey. Living in the Yangtze for 20 million years, the Baiji’s numbers declined
drastically from the 1950s onwards. As China industrialised, it made heavy use of the river for fishing, transportation
and hydroelectricity. A dwindling food supply, massive pollution and boat propeller accidents were wiping the creatures
out. The restriction of fishing, establishment of nature reserves and banning of deliberate killing of the mammals in the
1970s all came too late. Although not officially recorded as extinct, no one has seen a Yangtze River Dolphin since
2002.

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