Dire wolves went extinct around 10,000 to 13,000 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age or the Late Pleistocene epoch. The primary reasons for their extinction include the disappearance of their large prey species (megaherbivores) during a major extinction event, climatic changes, and competition with other species such as the more adaptable gray wolf. The dire wolves were specialized hunters of large herbivores like horses, bison, and camels, and as these prey species declined or went extinct, the dire wolves likely could not adapt to hunting smaller, faster animals, contributing to their extinction. Their extinction coincided with the Quaternary extinction event that saw many large mammals disappear. Additionally, reproductive isolation may have prevented dire wolves from acquiring adaptive traits through interbreeding like gray wolves did, which helped gray wolves survive and thrive.
