Final answer:
Humans have been hunting large animals like kudu since prehistoric times, with evidence from at least 12,000 years ago in the Americas, and possibly earlier in other parts of the world. The practice contributed to the extinction of various large species, especially following human migrations into previously uninhabited regions.
Step-by-step explanation:
Humans began hunting large beasts such as wild beasts and kudu long before recorded history, with archaeological evidence suggesting that the practice dates back tens of thousands of years. As early as 12,000 years ago in the Americas, humans used strategies like driving bison herds over cliffs. In Europe and other parts of the world, the hunting of very large animals like woolly mammoths required significant cooperation, sophisticated tools, and was a very dangerous endeavor. These hunts provided meat, hide, and bone, essential for survival.
Hunting practices adapted as humans moved into new environments and they learned to hunt different types of large animals, which unfortunately contributed to the decline of many species. In Australia, the arrival of humans around 45,000 years ago correlates with the extinction of numerous large species. Similarly, in North America and other regions, the arrival of humans saw a wave of extinctions of large mammals. These extinctions are attributed to human overkill, rather than climate change, indicating that human hunting practices had a significant impact on the environment and the species within it.