The example of the buffalo is flawed because they were not very dangerous to humans, and because the sheer size of the buffalo population was massive compared to the amount of mammoths that could be supported in a similar sized region. I’d guess we’re talking on the order of thousands to one.I doubt that a mammoth ate a thousand times more than a buffalo or that buffalo are not dangerous. Modern bison are very dangerous. But what happened to the Ice Age Bison and where did the modern Bison come from?
Bison Latifrons is an extinct Bison that had a huge horn span measuring 7 to 8 feet (2.5M) long tip to tip. The Florida fossil vertebrate giant measured 8.5 feet (2.5M) at the shoulder and survived through the last Ice Age.
This Giant Prehistoric Buffalo appeared, in Florida, during the middle Pleistocene period about 500,000 years ago. From the Bovidae Family, of even toed Artiodactyls, these long-horned Bison went extinct 21,000-30,000 years ago. This large wide-horned Bison was the largest of the North American species, of Bison.
“I doubt that a mammoth ate a thousand times more than a buffalo or that buffalo are not dangerous.”
Mammoth don’t need to eat a thousand times more than a bison for there to be thousands of bison for each mammoth in a similar size region. They are different animals, with different niches, so a direct comparison by amount of food they ate is useless. Also, bison roamed in huge herds all together, while mammoths were more territorial, living in small herds and fighting each other for turf. The thousand figure I threw out is just a guestimate anyway, so don’t get too hung up on it. The point is, there were a hell of a lot more bison, so you could kill a lot more of them before you made a significant impact on the population.
As for the danger, I didn’t say they were not dangerous, just not very dangerous to humans. That is, of course, unless you are stupid enough to stand in front of them when they are stampeding. Bison might have big horns that can kill you easily, but they are ruminants and ruminants are not a threat to humans under normal circumstances, they are a beneficial resource. Mammoths wouldn’t be as big of a threat as a large predator, but they certainly were more dangerous than some souped up cattle. I’ve never heard of a “rogue bison” going out and killing humans for fun, but elephants do display that behavior from time to time.
I don’t know what happened to the ice age bisons. Maybe the little guys just out competed them? Sometimes nature is counterintuitive. The big, more dangerous looking creature also needs more food, and is going to be more sensitive to a change in the food supply.