The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was a huge, furry animal that lived during the Ice Age in very cold places like Siberia, North America, and Europe. It belonged to the elephant family but was specially adapted to survive freezing temperatures. Woolly mammoths lived in wide open grasslands called the mammoth steppe, where they found plenty of food like grasses, shrubs, mosses, flowers, and even tree bark. Because they were so big, they needed to eat a lot of plants every day to stay strong and healthy.

An adult woolly mammoth stood about 10 to 13 feet tall and weighed between 6 to 8 tons, which is as heavy as several cars. To survive the icy cold, woolly mammoths had thick fur made up of two layers: a soft undercoat close to the skin and a long, shaggy outer coat that could grow up to 1 meter long. The fur itself could weigh up to 100 to 150 kilograms. Beneath their skin, they also had a thick layer of fat that helped them store energy and stay warm through the harsh winters.

One of their most noticeable features was their long, curved tusks, which could grow over 15 feet long. They used their tusks for many things, such as digging through deep snow to reach plants, protecting themselves from predators, and even fighting other mammoths. Their tusks were very strong and useful tools for survival.

Woolly mammoths lived for thousands of years, but around 10,000 years ago, they began to disappear. As the Ice Age ended, the Earth’s temperature rose, and many of the plants they depended on for food began to vanish. At the same time, humans were spreading across the land and hunting mammoths for their meat, fur, bones, and ivory. The combination of climate change, loss of food, and hunting made it hard for the mammoths to survive. A few small groups managed to live longer on isolated Arctic islands like Wrangel Island, with the very last woolly mammoths disappearing about 4,000 years ago.

Today, scientists have found frozen woolly mammoth bodies preserved in the ice. These well-preserved remains have allowed scientists to learn a lot about how they lived, what they ate, and how they survived the cold. Some scientists are even studying their DNA to explore the possibility of bringing the woolly mammoth back to life using new technology.