Here's Why Dire Wolves Really Went Extinct Around 12,500 Years Ago

The dire wolf last walked the Earth some 10,000 years ago, according to best estimates. The formidable beast called a large swath of North America home, and that's where they roamed the wilderness, hunting for prey.

But a series of unfortunate events may have spelled the end for the wolves, who once again rose to public consciousness thanks to their role in HBO's hit series Game of Thrones, and they eventually became extinct.

Why did dire wolves go extinct? The experts are mainly left to hypothesize what could've happened to these magnificent creatures, and they believe that two major changes are what ultimately led to their sad end.

Keep reading to learn more, including how big these animals were when they roamed free.

The end of the dire wolves is a familiar one for many species, and it included a mix of climate change and the lack of prey, according to Wikipedia.

Experts believe that the wolves were killed off as part of what they call a "Quaternary extinction event," which also saw the end of a number of North American species, including the ancient bison, stag-moose, shrub-ox, and more.

These animals were all believed to have died off when the climate in the region changed, and killed off a lot of their food sources. Not only that, but experts theorize that dire wolves were hit doubly hard by this scenario, and that they may have found themselves in fierce competition with other predators for the remaining prey in the area.

In April 2025, a Time magazine cover announced the return of the dire wolf. The magazine featured the story of Colossal Biosciences, the biotech company that claims to have brought the dire wolf back from extinction. Colossal says that it used a combination of gene-editing technology and cloning to turn two DNA specimens into three puppies.

Khaleesi, Romulus, and Remus were unveiled as the first dire wolves to walk the Earth in what could be as many as 13,000 years.

The company's CEO explained how they managed the high-tech accomplishment shortly after sharing the news. “Our team took DNA from a 13,000 year old tooth and a 72,000 year old skull and made healthy dire wolf puppies,” Ben Lamm said through a statement.

And, while many celebrated the announcement — and started making suggestions about which creatures they should bring back from extinction next — there were those that immediately disputed the claims.

A University of Otago Zoologist disputed the claims that the wolves are actually "back." Instead, Philip Seddon told BBC that these wolves should more accurately be referred to as "genetically modified grey wolves."

Another expert named Dr. Nic Rawlence echoed that sentiment to the publication, explaining that DNA from so long ago would be too degraded to be a true copy or clone.

"So what Colossal has produced is a grey wolf, but it has some dire wolf-like characteristics, like a larger skull and white fur," Rawlence explained. "It's a hybrid."

The return of the dire wolf would be big news in more than one way. That's because they were larger than the modern gray wolf that we are used to.

According to USA Today, these wolves stood approximately 3.5 feet tall and measured about 6 feet in length. They also weighed in at a whopping 150 pounds.