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The wolverine ( , ; Gulo gulo), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, kwiihkwahaacheew), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself.
The wolverine is found primarily in remote reaches of the northern Taiga and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest numbers in Northern Canada, the U.S. state of Alaska, the mainland Nordic countries of Europe, and throughout western Russia and Siberia. Its population has steadily declined since the 19th century owing to trapping, range reduction and habitat fragmentation. The wolverine is now essentially absent from the southern end of its range in both Europe and North America.
The Finnish name is ahma, derived from ahmatti, which is translated as "glutton". Similarly, the Estonian name is ahm, with the equivalent meaning to the Finnish name. In Lithuanian, it is ernis; in Latvian language, tinis or āmrija.
The Eastern Slavic росомаха ( rosomakha) and the Polish and Czech language name rosomák seem to be borrowed from the Finnish rasva-maha (fat belly). Similarly, the Hungarian name is rozsomák or torkosborz which means "gluttonous badger".
In French-speaking parts of Canada, the wolverine is referred to as carcajou, borrowed from the Innu-aimun or Innu language kuàkuàtsheu. However, in France, the wolverine's name is glouton (glutton).
Purported gluttony is reflected neither in the English name wolverine nor in the names used in North Germanic languages. The English word wolverine (alteration of the earlier form, wolvering, of uncertain origin) probably implies "a little wolf". The name in Proto-Norse, erafaz and Old Norse, jarfr, lives on in the regular Icelandic name jarfi, regular Norwegian name jerv, regular Swedish name järv and regular Danish name jærv.
There are two subspecies: the Old World form, Gulo gulo gulo, and the New World form, G. g. luscus. Some authors had described as many as four additional North American subspecies, including ones limited to Vancouver Island ( G. g. vancouverensis) and the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska ( G. g. katschemakensis). However, the most currently accepted taxonomy recognizes either the two continental subspecies or G. gulo as a single Holarctic taxon.
The adult wolverine is about the size of a medium dog, with a body length ranging from ; standing at the shoulder; and a tail length of . Weight is usually in males, and in females . Exceptionally large males of as much as are referenced in Soviet literature, though such weights are deemed in Mammals of the Soviet Union to be improbable.Holbrow, W. C. (1976). The biology, mythology, distribution, and management of the wolverine (Gulo gulo ) in western Canada. The University of Manitoba (Masters Thesis).Krott, P. (1959). Demon of the North. A.A. Knopf, New York. 260pp. (Translated from German). The males are often 10–15% larger than the females in linear measurements and can be 30–40% greater in weight. According to some sources, Eurasian wolverines are claimed to be larger and heavier than those in North America, with weights of up to . However, this may refer more specifically to areas such as Siberia, as data from Fennoscandian wolverines shows they are typically around the same size as their American counterparts.Weedle, F. (1968). The wolverine: the problems of a wilderness outcast. Defenders of Wildlife News 43: 156–168.Pulliainen, E. (1968). Breeding biology of the wolverine (Gulo gulo L.) in Finland. In Annales Zoologici Fennici (Vol. 5, No. 4, pp. 338–344). Finnish Zoological and Botanical Publishing Board.Järvenpää, J., & Norberg, H. (2011). Carnivore Nature Guide. European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.Wiig, Ø. (1989). Craniometric variation in Norwegian wolverines Gulo gulo L. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 95(3), 177–204. It is the largest of terrestrial ; only the marine-dwelling sea otter, the giant otter of the Amazon basin and the semi-aquatic African clawless otter are larger—while the European badger may reach a similar body mass, especially in autumn.
Wolverines have thick, dark, oily fur which is highly hydrophobe, making it resistant to frost. This has led to its traditional popularity among hunters and trappers as a lining in jackets and Anorak in Arctic conditions. A light-silvery facial mask is distinct in some individuals, and a pale buff stripe runs laterally from the shoulders along the side and crossing the rump just above a bushy tail. Some individuals display prominent white hair patches on their throats or chests.
Like many other mustelids, it has potent Anal glands used for marking territory and sexual signaling. The pungent odor has given rise to the nicknames "skunk bear" and "nasty cat." The anal gland secretion for the samples obtained from six animal's secretion was complex and variable: 123 compounds were detected in total, with the number per animal ranging from 45 to 71 compounds. Only six compounds were common to all extracts: 3-methylbutanoic acid, 2-methylbutanoic acid, phenylacetic acid, alpha-tocopherol, cholesterol, and a compound tentatively identified as 2-methyldecanoic acid. The highly odoriferous thietanes and dithiolanes found in anal gland secretions of some members of the Mustelinae ferrets, were not observed. The composition of the wolverine's anal gland secretion is similar to that of two other members of the Mustelinae, the pine and beech marten (Martes spp.)
Wolverines, like other mustelids, possess a special upper molar in the back of the mouth that is rotated 90 degrees, towards the inside of the mouth. This special characteristic allows wolverines to tear off meat from prey or carrion that has been frozen solid.
Wolverine have the highest compressive strength per Trabecula volumetric fraction (A 10mm high × 5mm diameter cilinder) at the mandibular condyle among all carnivore mammals at 940.8 Newtons, followed by the cheetah at 784.4 Newtons, the Malagasy civet at 714.4 Newtons, the honey badger at 710.8 Newtons and the kinkajou at 693.2 Newtons.
Wolverine remains have been found in Ukraine, but they are extirpated there today and it is unclear whether the wolverines would have formed sustainable populations.
Unique records of encounters with wolverines have been noted in Latvia, the most recent one being in late July 2022 (although it can be disputed because of the unclear footage); the population was widespread in the 16th and 17th centuries, but nowadays it is not native to the area.
Most New World wolverines live in Canada and Alaska. However, wolverines were once recorded as also being present in Colorado, areas of the southwestern United States (Arizona and New Mexico); the Midwest (Indiana, Nebraska, North and South Dakota, Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin); New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts); and in New York and Pennsylvania.
In the Sierra Nevada, wolverines were sighted near Winnemucca Lake in spring 1995 and at Toe Jam Lake north of the Yosemite border in 1996; and later photographed by baited cameras, including in 2008 and 2009, near Lake Tahoe. Wolverine Sighting on SPI Land near Truckee . yubanet.com. 18 March 2009 According to a 2014 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service publication, "wolverines are found in the North Cascades in Washington and the Northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, Oregon (Wallowa Range), and Wyoming. Individual wolverines have also moved into historic range in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, but have not established breeding populations in these areas". In 2022, Colorado Parks and Wildlife considered plans to reintroduce the wolverine to the state.
Wolverines are also found in Utah but are very rarely seen, with only six confirmed sightings since the first confirmed sighting in 1979. Three of these six confirmed Utah sightings have been caught on video. A wolverine, a male, was finally captured and tagged in Utah in 2022 before being released back into the wild to better understand the animal's range.
In August 2020, the National Park Service reported that wolverines had been sighted at Mount Rainier, Washington, for the first time in more than a century. The sighting was of a reproductive female and her two offspring.
In 2004, the first confirmed sighting of a wolverine in Michigan since the early 19th century took place when a Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist photographed a wolverine in Ubly, Michigan. The specimen was found dead at the Minden City State Game Area in Sanilac County, Michigan, in 2010.
The wolverine is also a powerful and versatile predator. Its prey mainly consists of small to medium-sized mammals, but wolverines have been recorded killing prey many times larger than thenselves, such as adult deer. Prey species include , , , , , moles, , , , mice, rats, , , Reindeer, roe deer, white-tailed deer, mule deer, sheep, goats, cattle, bison, moose, and elk. Smaller predators are occasionally preyed on, including , mink, foxes, Eurasian lynx,Heptner, V.G. and Sludskii, A.A. (1992). Humans are apparently exempt. Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II Part 2 Carnivora: Hyenas and Cats. New Delhi: Amerind Publishing, p. 625 , coyote, and wolf pups. Wolverines have also been known to kill Canada lynx in the Yukon of Canada. Wolverines often pursue live prey that are relatively easy to obtain, including animals caught in traps, newborn mammals, and deer (including adult moose and elk) when they are weakened by winter or immobilized by heavy snow. Their diets are sometimes supplemented by birds' eggs, birds (especially geese), , , insect larvae, and berries. Adult wolverines appear to be one of the few conspecific mammal carnivores to pose an active threat to golden eagles. Wolverines were observed to prey on nestling golden eagles in Denali National Park.Petersen, M. R., D. N. Weir, and M. H. Dick. 1991. Birds of the Kilbuck and Ahklun Mountain Region, Alaska. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, North American Fauna 76, Washington, D.C. During incubation in Northern Sweden, an incubating adult golden eagle was killed in its nest by a wolverine.Bjärvall, A. and R. Franzén. 1986. Wolverine killed Golden Eagle. Fauna Och Flora 81:205-206.
Wolverines inhabiting the Old World (specifically, Fennoscandia) hunt more actively than their North American relatives. This may be because competing predator populations in Eurasia are less dense, making it more practical for the wolverine to hunt for itself than to wait for another animal to make a kill and then try to snatch it. They often feed on carrion left by wolves, so changes in wolf populations may affect the population of wolverines. They are also known on occasion to eat plant material.
Wolverines often cache their food during times of plenty. This is of particular importance to Lactation females in the winter and early spring, a time when food is scarce.
The range of a male wolverine can be more than , encompassing the ranges of several females which have smaller home ranges of roughly 130–260 km2 (50–100 mi2). Adult wolverines try for the most part to keep nonoverlapping ranges with adults of the same sex. Radio tracking suggests an animal can range hundreds of miles in a few months.
Female wolverines burrow into snow in February to create a den, which is used until weaning in mid-May. Areas inhabited nonseasonally by wolverines are thus restricted to zones with late-spring . This fact has led to concern that global warming will shrink the ranges of wolverine populations.
This requirement for large territories brings wolverines into conflict with human development, and hunting and trapping further reduce their numbers, causing them to disappear from large parts of their former range; attempts to have them declared an endangered species have met with little success. In February 2013, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service proposed giving Endangered Species Act protections to the wolverine due to its winter habitat in the northern Rockies diminishing. This was as a result of a lawsuit brought by the Center for Biological Diversity and Defenders of Wildlife. In November 2023, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it was adding the wolverine in the United States Lower 48 states to the threatened list.
The Wildlife Conservation Society reported in June 2009 that a wolverine researchers had been tracking for almost three months had crossed into northern Colorado. Society officials had tagged the young male wolverine in Wyoming near Grand Teton National Park, and it had traveled southward for about . It was the first wolverine seen in Colorado since 1919, and its appearance was also confirmed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. In May 2016 the same wolverine was killed by a cattle ranch-hand in North Dakota, ending a greater-than- trip by this lone male wolverine, dubbed M-56. This was the first verified sighting of a Wolverine in North Dakota in 150 years. In February 2014, a wolverine was seen in Utah, the first confirmed sighting in that state in 30 years.
| Sweden | 265+ | Norrbotten | 1995–97 | Stable |
| Norway | 150+ | Snøhetta plateau and North | 1995–97 | Decline |
| Norway and Sweden – overall | 1065 | Overall | 2012 | Increase |
| Finland | 155–170 | Karelia and North | 2008 | Stable |
| Finland – overall | 165–175 | Overall | 2012 | Increase |
| Russia | 1500 | European Russia | 1970, 1990, | Decline |
| Russia – Komi Republic | 885 | – | 1990 | – |
| Russia – Archangelsk Oblast | 410 | Nenetsky Autonomous Area | 1990 | Limited |
| Russia – Kola Peninsula | 160 | Hunting Districts | 1990 | Decline |
| United States – Alaska | Unknown | Kobuk Valley National Park, Selawik National Wildlife Refuge | 1998 | Decline |
| United States – Alaska | 3.0 (± 0.4 SE) wolverines/1,000 km2 | Cook Inlet | 2004 | – |
| United States – Rocky Mountains | 28–52 | Montana, Idaho, Wyoming | 1989–2020 | Unknown |
| United States – California | 3 | Tahoe National Forest | 2008 | Unknown |
| Canada – Yukon | 9.7 (± 0.6 SE) wolverines/1,000 km2 | Old Crow Flats | 2004 | – |
| Canada – Ontario | Unclear | Sioux Lookout – Peawanuck | 2004 | Stable to expanding |
| Canada – overall | 15,000–19,000 | Overall | – | Stable |
The Marvel Comics superhero James "Logan" Howlett was given the nickname "Wolverine" while because of his skill, short stature, keen animal senses, ferocity, and most notably, claws that retract from both sets of knuckles.
The wolverine is prevalent in stories and oral history from various Algonquian tribes and figures prominently in the mythology of the Innu people of eastern Quebec and Labrador.Swann, Brian, editor. (2005). Algonquian Spirit: Contemporary Translations of the Algonquian Literatures of North America. Bison Books. The wolverine is known as Kuekuatsheu, a conniving trickster who created the world. The story of the formation of the Innu world begins long ago when Kuekuatsheu built a big boat similar to Noah's Ark and put all the various animal species in it. There was a great deal of rain, and the land was flooded. Kuekuatsheu told a mink to dive into the water to retrieve some mud and rocks which he mixed together to create an island, which is the world that is presently inhabited along with all the animals. Many tales of Kuekuatsheu are often humorous and irreverent and include crude references to bodily functions.Millman, Lawrence. (1993). Wolverine Creates the World: Labrador Indian Tales. Capra Press. Some Northeastern tribes, such as the Miꞌkmaq and Passamaquoddy, refer to the wolverine as Lox, who usually appears in tales as a trickster and thief (although generally more dangerous than its Innu counterpart) and is often depicted as a companion to the wolf.Lynch, Patricia Ann and Jeremy Roberts. (2010). Native American Mythology A to Z. Chelsea House Publishers. Similarly, the Dené, a group of the Athabaskan-speaking natives of northwestern Canada, have many stories of the wolverine as a trickster and cultural transformer much like the coyote in the Navajo tradition or raven in Northwest Coast traditions.Moore, Patrick and Angela Wheelock. (1990). Wolverine Myths and Visions: Dene Traditions from Northern Alberta. University of Nebraska Press.
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