Wolverine

A bulky, bear-like animal, the wolverine is dark brown with broad, yellowish bands from shoulders to hips, meeting at the base of the tail. The male is generally larger than the female and average weight is 18-42 pounds. Preferring forests and tundra, the wolverine is distributed throughout British Columbia except in heavily populated areas. The also occupy Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories but are rare in the Prairies and eastward. 2 to 5 wolverine young are born in the early spring in a protected area such as a thicket or rock crevice. They remain with their mother for 2 years. The wolverine eats anything it can find or kill; being poor hunters they tend to follow wolves and bears, feeding off the leftovers from kills. In general, the most severe winters when ungulates fare poorly are the winters when wolverines thrive. Because the oils in the wolverine’s fur make it frost resistant, man uses it abundantly to line or trim parka hoods. The wolverine has been historically important for First Nations for clothing and as a trading commodity after Europeans settled in the area. Currently they are protected from hunting but are a valuable commodity for trappers.

The wolverine is located across northern and western Canada, Alaska and mainland USA. Their population is decreasing and they are considered a Species of Special Concern. This reduction could be a result of changing environment and food resources, human settlement and activity, persecution and harvest, and both hunting and trapping. It is important to understand the effects of such external stressors.

There were 74 population units in total and three were taken out because their population and harvest estimates were zero. For the remaining 71 population units the mean population growth rate was calculated as 1.06, the recruitment per unit was between 0.02 and 15.71 wolverines and for the whole province it was 195.93. Most of the harvesting was done through trapping resulting in a total of 3,496 harvested wolverines between 1985 and 2004. The number of harvested individuals per unit ranged from 0 to 280. For the province the mean annual net recruitment was 20.73 wolverines. The median net recruitment was calculated in the individual units which ranged from -3.05 to 6.00 individuals. From the data it could also be assessed that females make up less than half of the whole harvest.

Out of the 71 units 20 did not show sustainable harvest of wolverines. For better data analysis it is important to calculate both mean and median annual net recruitment and consider the possibility of wolverines originating from different units. In order to change the areas that are harvested unsustainably there should be closed seasons and a reduction of the mean annual harvest by three wolverines in areas with sustainability issues. Focus should be on the southern and eastern areas of British Columbia as they border Alberta and the United States and on monitoring of harvest in consecutive years. Female harvest needs to be monitored as well as improved to obtain more valuable data to use for management. Monitoring in general is important to main sustainable harvest in all the population units.

Source: Assessment of the Sustainability of Wolverine Harvest in British Columbia

General issues across the Sub Region will be addressed below, followed by management plans specific to individual populations.

The specie Wolverine is under conservation provincially and nationally. Unfortunately, there is a lack of verification about how many wolverine live in the province, including the southern part of the Kootenays. It is known that U.S. populations are on a critical low level and therefore it is crucial for species conservation in the region. The Kootenay region is one of the only few areas know as a corridor for transboundary species. Such movements are really significant for the U.S populations and it will provide crucial information for wolverine conservation in this region. There were four methods: Field surveys, Genetic analysis, occupancy and abundance. The results in these four sections were:

Field surveys

During the whole process they installed 65 sites in the Purcells, three in the Nelson and Bonnington ranges. They collected 24,537 pictures over 9,476 hours. Not only detecting wolverine, but also squirrel, coyote, and mouse.

Genetic analysis

They obtained results from 356 hair, tissue, scat and skull samples. The wolverine DNA was detected at 10 sites. From those 10 sites they were able to identify 8 female wolverines.

Occupancy and abundance

After some calculations with different methods the occupancy-based population estimate was 17 wolverine for the south Purcell population.

Population genetics

Visual inspection of the neighbour-joining tree shows 10 of 11 wolverines from the south Purcells clustered on the same branch and the three from the central Selkirk Mountains clustered together as well. Three of four south Selkirk wolverines share the same branch. Individual populations do not appear to be clustered geographically.

This research represents the first attempt to inventory wolverine populations in the southern Kootenay region. Different analysis of wolverine habitat in B.C. rated most of the southern Purcells as high quality habitat whereas the southern Selkirks are moderate. The project is beginning to fill a knowledge gap for a species that is a conservation priority in the U.S. and Canada. This information is vital for identifying viable movement linkages and protecting habitat.

Source: Abundance and distribution of Wolverine

The Wolverine is the largest non-aquatic member of the weasel family in North America. Wolverines are medium-sized, burly, bear-like animal with short, thick-set legs and large paws. Its tail is short and bushy, the head is relatively large with short, rounded ears and small wide-set eyes. Males are larger adults weighing up to 20kg while female wolverine weight up to 14kg.

Wolverine fur is resistant to the build-up of frost and has long been used as trim on parkas, especially in aboriginal communities. Most of the wolverine population live in the north of America, primarily in Alaska, Yukon and Northwest Territories, and British Columbia.

The wolverine has been referred to the “hyena of the north” because it makes a significant portion of its living, as a scavenger. When it comes to feeding, the wolverine are ultimate “generalist” and opportunist, and the list of species it has been known to eat is long. In the summer the wolverine’s foods include rodents (especially voles, marmots, and ground squirrels) young ungulates (mountain sheep, mountain goats, and caribou), birds and eggs, and various berries.

Wolverines travel and forage normally alone, except for brief periods when animals are together as mated pairs or females with their pups. Wolverines mate in the summer (June and July), and the pups are born in the winter (February and March). A litter size averaging less than three pups.

British Columbia is a part of the centre of many wolverines in North America. In conclusion, wolverines naturally live in low density groups, have a relatively low reproductive potential, and are believed to have the lowest resilience to harvesting pressure of all the British Columbia furbearers. Therefore the primary objective in trapline management for wolverines is to protect the breeding population and reproduction for their food supply.

Source: Wolverine

Issues:

  • Unknown population size of wolverines in the Sub Region
  • Approved research proposal regarding wolverine population dynamics has not yet been enacted

Goals:

  • Initiate research to determine the extent of wolverine populations in the Sub Region
  • Determine necessary conservation measures to maintain healthy population sizes of wolverines

Objectives Management Direction/Strategies Measures of Success/Targets Intent