Extinct Animal Research: Woolly Mammoth We have learned almost more about the woolly mammoth than any other dinosaur that has been identified. Since the woolly mammoth resembles today's elephants so much, caring for them would most likely require most of the same factors to keep them alive. Since the woolly mammoth has been extinct for 4,000 years, it's hard to say exactly what they lived on, but we can make some guesses. The woolly mammoth lived during the Ice Age, so if it is alive today, it must be kept in a tundra environment. Only basic tundra vegetation is needed for food. Due to the woolly mammoth's thick skin, any known ice age temperature would be sufficient as the thick fur protects the animal in any extreme temperature. Large enclosures would not be needed as they would be for a normal elephant since the woolly mammoth is only three meters tall. The huge tusks would allow it to forage for its own food, so no special feeding would be necessary. Meals would also be needed less frequently because the woolly mammoth, much like today's camels, keeps a thick layer of fat under its sloping back as nourishment when food is not needed. The problem with keeping a creature like the woolly mammoth in an environment Zoo-like surroundings would be poachers. Due to the danger of extinction of such a magnificent species, skin and ivory poachers would surely be on the lookout for its enormous tusks and thick fur, so guards would need to be placed around its cage at all times. A large-scale habitat would be built for this creature because, during the time it lived, the Pleistocene, there were no restrictions on where it could roam. There was nothing stopping this beast from going wherever it wanted to go. A woolly mammoth might find it strange to be stuck in a twenty-foot ice field with no predators or other animals whatsoever.