Ice-Age Mammals - Bering Land Bridge National Preserve (U.S. National Park Service) Woolly Mammoth NPS Photo. Little is known about these ice age animals, but the discovery of the well-preserved 'Blue Babe' helped scientist to gather what is known today. Blue Babe was unearthed near a mine in Fairbanks in 1979, and was believed to have been killed by American lions nearly 36,000 years ago. The basic characteristics of the steppe bison include large horns with curving tips, long hind legs, slightly larger body size than wood bison, and humped shoulders. Their main predators were American lions, wolves, and Paleolithic hunters and their diet consisted of various grasses found on the tundra. The predators of the giant short faced bear were Paleolithic hunters, but their inability to evolve seemed to be the biggest hurdle for these solitary scavenger/hunters in survival.