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Woolly mammoths and other giants of the Ice Age were wiped out by human hunters not climate change.

This is according to a new study that blames man rather than environment for the demise of the massive animals that included sabre tooth cats, huge kangaroos and a leopard sized marsupial lion.

The pattern of extinctions for 177 species weighing 22lbs (10kg) or more between 132,000 years and 1,000 years ago found those that died out during that interval were most closely related to the global expansion of humans.

Woolly mammoths and other giants of the Ice Age were wiped out by human hunters not climate change. Researchers at Aarhus University in Denmark came to the conclusion after looking at the pattern of extinctions for 177 species between 132,000 years and 1,000 years ago

Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, of Aarhus University, Denmark, said: 'We consistently find very large rates of extinction in areas where there had been no contact between wildlife and primitive human races, and which were suddenly confronted by fully developed modern humans.

'In general, at least 30 per cent of the large species of animals disappeared from all such areas.'

The last Ice Age occurred during the Pleistocene Epoch, defined as the period that began  1.8 million years ago and lasted until around 11,700 years ago.

For almost 50 years, scientists have been discussing what led to the mass extinction of large animals, also known as megafauna, during and immediately after the last Ice Age.

The researchers whose findings are published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B have carried out the first global analysis of the extinction of the large animals, and the conclusion is clear - humans are to blame.

Dr Soren Faurby said: 'Our results strongly underline the fact human expansion throughout the world has meant an enormous loss of large animals.'

One of two leading theories states that the large animals became extinct as a result of climate change, meaning many animals no longer had the potential to find suitable habitats and they died out as a result.

But, because the last Ice Age was just one in a long series of Ice Ages, it has puzzled scientists that a corresponding extinction did not take place during the earlier ones.

The other theory concerning the extinction of the animals is 'overkill.'

Professor Jens-Christian Svenning, of Aarhus University, Denmark, said: 'We consistently find very large rates of extinction in areas where there had been no contact between wildlife and primitive human races, and which were suddenly confronted by fully developed modern humans'

Modern man spread from Africa to all parts of the world during the course of a little more than the last 100,000 years.

This hypothesis states that modern man exterminated many of the large animal species on arrival in the new continents.

This was either because their populations could not withstand human hunting, or for indirect reasons such as the loss of their prey, which were also hunted by humans.

The researchers found out of their 177 species that disappeared, Africa only lost 18 and Europe 19, while Asia lost 38, Australia and the surrounding area 26, North America 43 and South America a total of 62.

The extinction of the large animals took place in virtually all climate zones and affected cold-adapted species such as woolly mammoths, temperate species such as forest elephants and giant deer, and tropical species such as giant cape buffalo and some giant sloths.

It was observed on virtually every continent, although a particularly large number of animals became extinct in North and South America, where species including sabre-toothed cats, mastodons, giant sloths and giant armadillos disappeared, and in Australia, which lost animals such as giant kangaroos, giant wombats and marsupial lions.

There were also fairly large losses in Europe and Asia, including a number of elephants, rhinoceroses and giant deer.

According to the researchers of this study, the results show the link between climate change and the loss of megafauna is weak, and can only be seen in Europe and Asia.

On the other hand, there was a very strong correlation between the extinction and the history of human expansion.

DID DOGS HELP WIPE OUT WOOLLY MAMMOTHS? 

Domestication of dogs could explain mammoth kill sites. Pictured is a 27,000-years-ago skull of a dog involved in the study

Dogs have been man's best friend for thousands of years and now new research has hinted that they helped early modern man hunt woolly mammoths.

Domestication of dogs could explain mammoth kill sites and why cavemen thrived in a hostile environment full of threats, according to a new study.

The sudden appearance of dwellings built from mammoth bones could be due to humans hunting alongside the earliest domesticated dogs, scientists explained.

Pat Shipman of Penn State University has taken a fresh look at European archaeological sites containing large numbers of dead mammoths and dwellings built with mammoth bones.

She believes that a successful new technique for killing such large animals had been developed and its repeated use over time could explain the mysterious, massive collections of mammoth bones in Europe.

In a study published in the journal Quaternary International, she said that early modern humans worked with the earliest domestic dogs to kill the mammoth.

Her claim is based upon recent work by Mietje Germonpré of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, who uncovered evidence that some of the large carnivores at these sites were early domesticated dogs, not wolves as generally had been assumed.