A thought ~ Toba killed off the big cats as well as their game making it possible for humans to re-enter the area without much competition or risk of being eaten.
Eventually the big cats returned but the human population was enough to more than match them.
Same idea I have about the Younger Dryas event ~ before the event humans could not readily move permanently into verdant grasslands full of game because of the high population of big cats. After the event, humans owned the place because the cats were gone.
Makes sense for the Americas too. Population could not spread far and wide until the giant American lion died off at the end of the last ice age (although based on numerous sightings from the 1790s to the present, there may be relict populations of the lions still around).
Same idea I have about the Younger Dryas event ~ before the event humans could not readily move permanently into verdant grasslands full of game because of the high population of big cats. After the event, humans owned the place because the cats were gone.
............
I thought the problem was the big short faced bear.
Toba’s a myth.