Wolverines (Gulo gulo), the largest member of the weasel (Mustelidae) family, have suffered at the hands of man. Nearly trapped and hunted out of existence in the lower forty-eight states, they were proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2013 but the Fish & Wildlife Service reversed course in 2014, over uncertainties of how climate change was impacting the species. Resistance to the listing was also centered on concerns that designating protected habitat would "rope off" large sections of high alpine landscape. Wolverines need deep snow pack at high elevations that last until late spring to reproduce. Females dig elaborate dens in the snow to raise their offspring. The kits--usually two--live with their mother until two years old. [photo] There are fewer than 300 wolverines in the contiguous states, and they could loose up to a third of their snowy habitat by the turn of this century. There is good news for the wolverine, however. Scientists have discovered wolverines, male and female, living in Wyoming's Wind River Range during the first wide-ranging wolverine survey conducted this spring by federal, state and tribal agents. A breeding female was also located in Washington's South Cascade mountains.
Thursday, May 31, 2018
More Wolverines Found
Wolverines (Gulo gulo), the largest member of the weasel (Mustelidae) family, have suffered at the hands of man. Nearly trapped and hunted out of existence in the lower forty-eight states, they were proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2013 but the Fish & Wildlife Service reversed course in 2014, over uncertainties of how climate change was impacting the species. Resistance to the listing was also centered on concerns that designating protected habitat would "rope off" large sections of high alpine landscape. Wolverines need deep snow pack at high elevations that last until late spring to reproduce. Females dig elaborate dens in the snow to raise their offspring. The kits--usually two--live with their mother until two years old. [photo] There are fewer than 300 wolverines in the contiguous states, and they could loose up to a third of their snowy habitat by the turn of this century. There is good news for the wolverine, however. Scientists have discovered wolverines, male and female, living in Wyoming's Wind River Range during the first wide-ranging wolverine survey conducted this spring by federal, state and tribal agents. A breeding female was also located in Washington's South Cascade mountains.