Overview
The wolverine is the largest land-dwelling member of the weasel family and looks something like a small bear except for its relatively long tail. It is short and heavy with short, massive legs and large paws. The ears are small and rounded. The fur is long and thick, blackish-brown in color, with light patches on the crown and cheeks, and yellowish flank bands that extend from shoulders to rump and join across the base of the tail. The jaws are powerful and the premolars are heavy, for crushing bones. Wolverines have 38 teeth (i3/3, c1/1, pm4/4, m1/2). There are five toes with large, curved, non-retractile claws on each foot. The soles are naked in summer, densely haired in winter.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Family
- Mustelidae
- Genus
- Gulo
- Species
- Gulo gulo
Habitat
Arctic and subarctic tundra and forest. Distribution- Once found from Scandinavia and Germany eastward to the Pacific Ocean. Now restricted to parts of northern Scandinavia and northern Russia in Europe. Still common across Siberia and extending into Mongolia and Manchuria.
Diet
Feeds on rodents, birds, fruit, berries, eggs and carrion. Some larger mammals are also killed, usually in winter when snow allows the wolverine to travel faster than its prey. Caches any surplus food by covering with earth or snow, or places in forks of trees.
Behavior
Solitary except when breeding, and nowhere numerous. Large individual territories are established, where same-sex individuals are usually not tolerated. Territories are regularly marked with urine and secretions from the anal scent glands. Breeds late April-July, with delayed implantation until November-March, followed by 30-40 days active gestation, and births occurring during January-April. Litter size is usually 2-4, range 1-5. The young leave their mother that fall, are fully grown at one year and sexually mature at 2-3 years. Largely nocturnal, but sometimes active in daylight. May alternate 3-to-4 hour periods of activity and sleep in the far north where there are long periods of light and darkness. Mainly terrestrial, but is a good tree climber and good swimmer. Sense of smell is good, eyesight poor, hearing indifferent. The wolverine is exceptionally strong for its size and has been reported to drive bears and cougars from their kills. Runs at a loping gallop, which it can maintain for many miles without rest. Has been known to travel as far as 28 miles (45 km) in a day. For shelter, it builds a bed of leaves or grass in a cave or rock crevice, under a log or in a hole under snow. Does not hibernate.
Hunting
Trapped to some extent but the fur has little commercial value other than for parkas in arctic regions, because it accumulates little or no frost. Considered a pest worldwide because of its habits of following traplines and eating trapped animals, of breaking into cabins and food caches and befouling the contents with its anal scent glands after eating its fill, and of preying on domestic reindeer. As a game animal, it usually is taken as a target of opportunity while hunting other species. Tracking by snow machine is an option in some areas. Only wolverines that have been hunted are eligible for the SCI Record Book.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.