Ice Age Humans Targeted Female Woolly Mammoths, Study Finds

A multinational research team analysed ancient DNA from 521 woolly mammoth bones spanning Eurasia and North America. At sites associated with prehistoric human activity, about 70% of the specimens were female, whereas natural bone deposits were dominated by males (66%).

The findings, published in Current Biology, suggest Ice Age hunters deliberately selected female mammoths, likely because they lived in predictable, female‑led herds similar to modern elephants. Researchers, including lead author Hannah Moots of the Centre for Palaeogenetics, propose that the herd structure made females easier to locate and hunt.

The study provides new insight into human‑mammoth interactions during the last 50,000 years and adds nuance to debates over the role of hunting versus climate in the species' extinction.