1. Climate change: The end of the last glacial period, known as the Pleistocene-Holocene transition, brought about significant changes in climate and vegetation. The gradual warming of the climate and shifting plant communities may have altered the habitats that mammoths were adapted to, reducing their food sources and making them vulnerable to environmental stresses.
2. Overhunting by humans: Humans arrived in North America and Eurasia during the late Pleistocene epoch and quickly became successful hunters. Mammoths were likely a valuable source of food, fur, and other resources for human populations, and their hunting may have contributed to the species' decline. Evidence of human hunting of mammoths has been found at several archaeological sites, including spear points and mammoth bones with human-made markings.
3. Habitat loss: As human populations grew and expanded, they also began to transform the landscape through activities such as deforestation and agriculture. This loss of habitat may have further reduced the range of mammoths and exacerbated the effects of climate change and overhunting.
4. Disease: Some theories suggest that diseases introduced by humans or transmitted from other animal species may have also played a role in the decline of mammoths. However, there is limited direct evidence to support this hypothesis, and it remains speculative.
5. Multiple factors: It is likely that a combination of these factors, rather than a single cause, led to the extinction of mammoths. The changing climate, overhunting by humans, habitat loss, and potential diseases may have all contributed to the species' demise, ultimately leading to its extinction around 10,000 years ago.