Wrangel Island ("island of polar bears") is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 92nd largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete.

It is an isolated Arctic island located between Siberia and Alaska. The closest land to Wrangel Island is the tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 kilometers (32 nautical miles) to the east.
According to paleontological analyses, the last known population of woolly mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, with fossil specimens found there dating to around 4,000 years ago.
Mammoths are long gone buy today Wrangel Island is famous for its highest density of polar bears anywhere in the world.
Woolly mammoths survived on island until around 2500–2000 BC, the most recent survival of any known mammoth populations.
For perspective, these mammoths were living during the times of ancient Bronze Age civilizations such as Sumer, Elam and the Indus Valley. This was also the time of the fourth dynasty of Ancient Egypt.
Mammoths, apparently, died-out and subsequently disappeared from mainland Eurasia and North America around 10,000 years ago; however, about 500–1,000 mammoths were isolated on Wrangel Island and thus continued to survive for another 6,000 years.
Due to the global warming that began 15,000 years ago, on Wrangel Island, mammoths were cut off from the mainland by rising sea levels but survived for many thousand years.
Studies show that Wrangel woolly mammoths were comparatively smaller than their mainland counterparts but are no longer considered to have been dwarves.
The Wrangel Island mammoths exhibited low genetic diversity, likely due to their isolation and small population size. This limited genetic diversity may have contributed to their eventual extinction.
Without genetic diversity, harmful genetic mutations likely accumulated as these woolly mammoths inbred. These mammoths couldn't even smell flowers, the researchers reported.
Studies show that in fact, the Wrangel mammoth’s genome carried so many detrimental mutations that the population had suffered a “genomic meltdown”.
According to the frequency of radiocarbon dated mammoth remains from the island, the extinction appears fairly abrupt.
Also loss of food and habitat killed them off for good as their Ice Age Grasslands were replaced with Mossy Tundra.
A recent detailed study discusses scenarios related to water quality problems stemming from increased weathering, and a possibility of a catastrophic starvation event as a cause of, or contributing factor in their demise.
Scientists continue to study the Wrangel Island woolly mammoths to gain insights into their biology, behavior, and extinction. Ongoing research includes genetic analysis, paleoecological studies, and archaeological excavations.
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Music: Jungle - Aakash Gandhi (YouTube Audio Library)


Music: Jungle - Aakash Gandhi (YouTube Audio Library)