Wolverine

Wolverines eat almost anything they can find.

In winter they eat leftovers from big animals. They also catch voles, squirrels, hares and birds.

Wolverines eat almost anything they can find or catch. In winter they mostly eat carrion, the remains of moose, caribou and other animals that died or were left by wolves and hunters. All year they also catch smaller animals like voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares and birds, and in spring they sometimes take young Dall sheep.

Their powerful jaws and big neck muscles let them crush bones and chew frozen meat. Wolverines can go for a long time on very little food.

Wolverines are opportunistic and well adapted for scavenging. ADF&G reports that in winter they rely mainly on carrion, such as moose and caribou killed by wolves, by hunters or by natural causes, while year-round they hunt small and medium-sized mammals and birds: voles, squirrels, snowshoe hares and others. Killing moose, Dall sheep or caribou is possible but rare, though young Dall sheep are taken in spring.

Powerful jaws and neck muscles allow them to crush bone and eat frozen flesh, and they can survive long periods on little food. Britannica adds that rodents tunneling under deep snow are a frequent prey, and that harsh, snowy winters are thought to leave more carcasses.

Wolverines usually live alone.

They are busy in the day and at night. They walk and walk to look for food.

Wolverines live alone for most of the year. A male's home area overlaps those of two to six females, and males defend their areas from other males from February to July. Wolverines can be active at any time of day, all year round.

People often tell stories about how fierce wolverines are, but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says this reputation is exaggerated. Wolverines do not go after wolves or bears. They avoid them, because those bigger predators can be dangerous to them.

Wolverines are largely solitary. In Alaska, resident males' home ranges overlap those of two to six females, offspring share their mother's range, and males defend territories from February through July, during denning and breeding. ADF&G reports activity at any time of day, year-round, while Britannica describes the species as generally a nocturnal hunter; it also notes that some adults, littermates and small family groups have been seen traveling together.

Their endurance and strength have made wolverines a subject of folklore, but ADF&G states that the fierce reputation is exaggerated: they avoid wolves and bears, as encounters can be fatal to them (wolves are a main natural cause of wolverine deaths), while defending food or territory against other wolverines and smaller predators.

Wolverines need big wild places with lots of snow.

In some places there are fewer than before. People are working to bring wolverines back to some mountains.

The IUCN lists the wolverine as Least Concern, but its numbers are going down. Wolverines are rare in Europe and in many parts of North America, because people hunted, trapped and poisoned them to keep them away from farm animals.

Wolverines also seem to depend on deep snow. Scientists have seen big drops in wolverine numbers where snow has become much less deep. Because they have few young and need lots of space, protecting large wild areas, and their snowy denning places, is important. In 2023 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed wolverines in the lower 48 states as threatened, which means protected by law. Plans have been made to bring wolverines back to some mountains in the United States.

The IUCN lists Gulo gulo as Least Concern with a decreasing trend. Britannica attributes its sparseness in Europe and in eastern and southwestern North America to hunting, trapping and poisoning aimed at protecting livestock. Limited reproduction makes populations sensitive to overharvest, and ADF&G notes that sustainable trapping in Alaska depends on refuges that act as source populations.

Wolverines appear dependent on deep snowpack, and North American studies have recorded significant declines where snow depth has fallen sharply. ADF&G stresses protecting large wilderness areas and, as recreation reaches remote areas, natal denning sites. In the contiguous United States, where wolverines live in the Northern Rocky Mountains and North Cascades, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the North American wolverine as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in a final rule published on November 30, 2023 (in force from January 2, 2024), citing climate change and the habitat degradation and fragmentation that come with it. Reintroduction plans have targeted the Cascade Range, the Sierra Nevada and Colorado.