The Return of the Wolverine

Recently CNN, IFL Science and many other media outlets confirmed the sighting of a female wolverine (not X-23) with her 3 kits in the Mount Rainier National Park of Washington state, USA. Wolverines are known to reside in mountainous regions specifically and are a rare spectacle in the lower 48 states of USA; in fact, this is the first chance in 100 years that wolverine has be spotted in Mt. Rainier Park. This news has bought a big smile on the face of conservationists and forest workers working in the Mount Rainier National Park. Rangers are considering it as a sign of healthy ecosystem and the chances of the National Park to sustain large carnivores once again are getting better.

Young ones of wolverines are called kits.

Mount Rainier National Park is a 369 km² reserve in southeast of Seattle and surrounds the 14,410 ft. Mount Rainier. It was established in year 1899 and is under the authority of National Park Service. Mount Rainier, also known as Tahoma, is a large stratovolcano located in Cascade Range. We will now try to understand this furry-&-ferocious super-sized weasel that was once widespread in the Northern America as south as New Mexico, but now its range is strictly restricted to Boreal forests and some 400 or so individuals live in the lower 48 states.

 

The Real Wolverine:

Wolverines are the largest extant members of mustelidae or the weasel family. Wolverines are so stocky and muscular that they look more like a small bear with a long and furry tail than a weasel. Their closest relatives are martens and both share the same subfamily. It seems like the weasel family, at some point in the course evolution, decided to create the most ferocious creatures with ‘I-don’t-give-a-damn’-attitude. The honey badgers, martens, minks and wolverines are among the most ill-tampered and savage animals that this planet has ever nurtured. The bad-ass attitude of honey badgers is also shared by wolverines. Wolverines are typically solitary animals with very large territories.

A male’s territory can be as large as 600 km², overlapping with many female territories.

Although they are solitary, but when it comes to parenthood, wolverine dads are known to take good care of their kits and they play with them too. Fury of wolverine can be imagined by the fact that once a wolverine killed a polar bear, which was about 45 times heavier than the wolverine in a zoo by latching on to the throat of the poor bear. But unlike Hugh Jackman, real-life wolverines lack retractable claws; instead they have semi-retractable claws. Retractable or not, these claws are really dangerous.

Mother and her Kits: The photograph taken by camera traps 

The Hyenas of the North:

The scientific name of wolverines is Gulo gulo, which in Latin means ‘Glutton’; probably the most appropriate name in the whole animal kingdom! Wolverines are known to feed mostly on dead animals and eat every single thing that the carcass has to offer. That is the reason behind the name 'Hyenas of the North'. They eat flesh, cartilages, bones and even teeth! Yes they are savage. But to survive the ruthless winters of far north, you need to be equally ruthless, and wolverines are the perfect personification of that. Unlike bears, wolverines never hibernate; they stay awake the whole winter and with their keen sense of smell, they can detect food from 20 feet under the snow. You say avalanche, wolverine hears barbecue.

Wolverines face no problem in moving around on snow thanks to their extra large paws that expand, nearly double the size, when they step on the snow. All these abilities combined with a free and fearless undying spirit. Wolverines are also known to travel very long distances in short periods. There is never a dull movement with a weasel; they’re always up to something. Wolverines do not depend only on carcasses, they do hunt, and they are good at it too. Still, to snatch the food from other predators is what wolverines are best at. Wolverines can even snatch the killings from a pack of wolves or a raging grizzly. Now that I’ve mentioned wolves and bears, including mountain lions to the list is more or less pointless. But, is everything on the internet about these kill-machines true?

The Bad Rep:

Wolverines are indeed cunning predators and have the ability to kill preys as large as Moose alone. But the reputation they have is, for the most part, not true. In fact, it is due to these rumours and misinformation that many wolverines are killed at the very point they are sighted. Wolverines are shy animals and avoid humans as much as possible. Not only that wolverines are not used to pester around the garbage of Homo sapiens, like the bears do. And it's not like the wolverines are not hunted or are unbeatable in natural battlefields. Some wolverines die while fighting for food against really nasty large bear, which is not ready to share its food that easily. Many times wolverines get stuck with large wolf-packs, and end up dying, and unlike Hugh Jackman, they don’t have regeneration ability. Wolverines are truly fearless, and sometimes they have to pay for that. But it is not just these things that people overlook; they also overlook the fact that these creatures can have dramatically pleasant nature. Wolverines can be very playful if handled carefully. There is one other problem as well, the captive breeding success rate. Wolverines are among the most difficult mammals to breed in captivity, just like giant pandas. Mortality rate for infants is too high and proper fertilization is also a big problem. This means, if their population takes a U-turn at any point, conservation of wolverines will be a hefty and complicated business.

Their return to lower states is a good sign and we hope more will come down from the boreal forests into their ancient home.

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References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine

https://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/first-sighting-of-wolverines-in-mount-rainier-national-park-in-100-years/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NU9gRZsTBnU