They were the biggest of the Ice Age giants , roaming the frozen plains of the Northern Hemisphere . But it seems the final days of the woolly mammoth were a sad struggle for survival . Genetic analysis of two woolly mammoth remains show that their population became so small that they had become chronically inbred . Scroll down for video . The last of the woolly mammoths ( shown in the reconstruction above ) were isolated on an Arctic island for around 5,000 years , forcing them to inbreed as their population dwindled until disappering 4,500 years ago . Researchers have concluded that the creatures clung on in just a tiny pocket of the Arctic , on an island that appears to have become cut off from the mainland . The study has also raised the prospect of bringing the giant mammal back to life using cloning techniques with modern elephants . Scientists claim to have taken a major step towards recreating the woolly mammoth by inserting more than a dozen of the creature 's genes into the live DNA of an elephant . Researchers studied the structure of DNA from mammoths preserved in the Arctic to reproduce exact copies of 14 of the extinct animal ’ s genes . These were then integrated by experts at Harvard University in Massachusetts into the elephant genome - and functioned as normal DNA . A new method known as 'Crispr ' - helping scientists make accurate changes to DNA - was used by genetics professor George Church , who replaced parts of elephant DNA with the mammoth genes . Other researchers have proposed using mammoth DNA to replace that of an elephant using a similar technique to the one used to clone Dolly the Sheep . However , many scientists fear these animals would be unable to survive in the modern world without their ancient habitat . Such techniques also can lead to deformities and health problems in the animals . However the researchers behind the genetic analysis have urged other scientists not to attempt this for fear of the suffering it may cause to the animals . Instead , they say their findings have revealed new insights into the evolutionary history and demise of the woolly mammoths . They have published full DNA sequences of one mammoth found in Oimyakon , northeast Siberia – thought to be around 45,000 years old – and another from one of the last surviving mammoths found on Wrangel Island , north of Russia in the Arctic Ocean . They found that the mammoths on Wrangel Island had been isolated for at least 5,000 years , eking out a meager existence there before dying out 4,500 years ago . Analysis showed that the parents of the mammoth found on Wrangel Island had been distant relatives , suggesting the population had been inbreeding . Dr Love Dalén , an associate professor of Bioinformatics and Genetics at the Swedish Museum of Natural History who took part in the study , said : ‘ We found that the genome from one of the world ’ s last mammoths displayed low genetic variation and a signature consistent with inbreeding . ‘ This is likely due to the small number of mammoths that managed to survive on Wrangel Island during the last 5,000 years of the species ’ existence. ’ The researchers , whose work is published in the journal Cell Biology , found that the mammoth genome only appeared to align with African elephant DNA by between 64 per cent and 76 per cent . Researchers extracted DNA from the remains of two woolly mammoths who died 36,000 years apart . Scientists have been able to extract DNA from mammoth hair ( above ) and tusks found across Siberia . Mammoths are thought to have evolved around 400,000 years ago in eastern Asia and is a close relative to the Asian elephant . The researchers analysis revealed that mammoths appear to have suffered significant setbacks around 250,000 to 300,000 years ago where their population was decimated . However , they then recovered before they experienced a further hit to their populations around 116,000 to 130,000 years ago . The population then appears to have remained stable until 12,000 years ago when their numbers were drastically reduced . The researchers believe the mammoths in Oimyakon and Wrangel separated around 50,000 years . Hunting by humans has long been thought to be what drove the mammoths to extinction while climate change has also been blamed . The researchers studied mammoth remains found at Oimyakon in Siberia and Wrangel Island ( shown above ) This mammoth tusk on Wrangel Island in Russia belonged to one of the last mammoths before they died out . The new results suggest the animals were already in decline by the time humans began moving into Europe 45,000 years ago . Professor Hendrik Poinar , director of the Ancient DNA Centre at McMaster University who was also involved in the research , said the DNA raises the prospect that mammoths could now be brought back from extinction . Organisations like the Long Now Foundation have said they hope to resurrect the mammoth . Professor Poinar said : ‘ This discovery means that recreating extinct species is a much more real possibility , one we could in theory realize within decades . ‘ I think in the future it will be inevitable that we will be able to do it , but the bigger question is should we do it . ‘ With a complete genome and this kind of data , we can now begin to understand what made a mammoth a mammoth—when compared to an elephant—and some of the underlying causes of their extinction which is an exceptionally difficult and complex puzzle to solve . ’
The last mammoths died out on an Wrangel Island island around 4,500 years ago . Isolated on Arctic for around 5,000 years they became inbred . Researchers found mammoth populations suffered declines in the past . DNA sequencing also raises prospect of bringing mammoths back to life .