One specific type of habitat Wolverines need is the den used by females to give birth and raise their kits. This lack of knowledge about Wolverine habitat makes it difficult to manage the species and protect its habitat. Labrador and Québec, for example, don’t seem to have recolonized by Wolverines, despite the abundance of caribou and undisturbed habitat. However, the reasons for their high sensitivity for human disturbance are still being studied, and are not yet known. Wolverines are most likely to occur in remote areas, far away from humans and their developments. Within its range, the Wolverine occupies many different kinds of habitats. We will continue fighting to protect this incredible species.The boreal forest, one of the habitats used by the Wolverine In response, a number of Endangered Species Coalition member groups including Earthjustice, the Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, Idaho Conservation League, and Rocky Mountain Wild have expressed they will be challenging the decision in court. This decision was justified by grossly downplaying the projected effects of climate change on snowpack. Wolverines can be unintentionally trapped and killed.ĭespite this compelling evidence, in October 2020, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) under the Trump Administration denied protections to the wolverine. Trapping is indiscriminate and lethal to any unlucky creature that stumbles upon them. Resource extraction, roads, winter recreation (such as snowmobiling and helicopter skiing), and other disturbances near denning sites negatively impact their ability to reproduce. Human disturbances and trapping are also negatively affecting wolverines. The result may be further isolation of different populations as the vital alpine habitat becomes restricted more and more to higher elevations. Climate change is causing a loss of springtime snowpack and this loss will likely accelerate. For this reason, female wolverines choose the deepest snowpack available for their dens. This has resulted in decreased genetic exchange and decreased ability for self-sustaining populations or repopulation of areas that may be suitable for recovery, such as the Southern Rockies and Sierra Nevadas.Īdditionally, wolverines rely on snowpack that lasts into late spring to successfully raise their young. Wolverines in the western US are segmented into subpopulations effectively separated by low valleys, development, and other obstacles. The number of wolverines in the lower-48 states is reduced to a perilously low number, an estimated 300 individuals in the contiguous US. Many factors are contributing to the decline of the wolverine in the US.
However, in recent decades their ranges have decreased dramatically and they are now only found in pockets of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. They could have been found in the Rocky Mountains and even as far south as northern Arizona and New Mexico. Historically, wolverines occupied the higher elevation forests from California all the way to the Great Lakes region. Although they are capable of successfully hunting ungulates, like deer and elk, they will gladly scavenge on the leftover carrion from a wolf kill or hunt smaller prey like ground squirrels and marrots. Wolverines are the largest member of the Mustelidae family, which includes carnivorous mammals like weasels, otters, badgers, and ferrets. Support our work with a one time or recurring gift.Saving Endangered Species Youth Art Contest.10 Things You Can Do to Save Endangered Species.