Wolverine

Facts

IUCN NEAR THREATENED (NT)

Facts about this animal

The Wolverine is shaped vaguely like a large, robust marten. They have a head-body length of 70-85 cm. The bushy tail has a length of about 25 cm. Weight can be up to 30 kg, but females are smaller and considerably lighter than males.

Wolverines have a dense, long-haired, dark-brown fur with lighter bands extending from the shoulders to the flanks.

The feet are large for the size of the animal and help them move over deep snow. Like many other martens, wolverines can produce a unpleasant odour from anal musk glands for marking and defense.

Mating season is from May to August with a peak in June. Implantation of the embryos is delayed, most births taking place in February of the following year. Wolverines are slow breeders as average litter size is just 2.2 cubs. The cubs are born blind and weigh about 100 grams at birth. They leave the nest at 9-10 weeks, and are almost independent at 6-7 months.

The wolverine's diet consists of hares, ptarmigans, small rodents, and, depending of snow conditions, reindeer.

Did you know?
that breeding occurs in the summer, but birth, however, does not occur until the following winter/spring? Active gestation is 30-50 days, but because of delayed implantation, full gestation period may last 215-272 days.

Factsheet
Class	MAMMALIA
Order	CARNIVORA
Suborder	FISSIPEDIA
Family	MUSTELIDAE
Name (Scientific)	Gulo gulo
Name (English)	Wolverine
Name (French)	Glouton
Name (German)	Vielfraß
Name (Spanish)	Glotón
Local names	Finish: Ahma Norwegian: Jerv Swedish: Järv
CITES Status	Not listed
CMS Status	Not listed

Photo Copyright by
Zerfram

Distribution

Distribution
Range	Northern North America, Scandinavia, northern Asia (Canada, Estonia, Finland, Mongolia, Norway, Russian Federation, Sweden, United States)
Habitat	Forests, mountains, plains, brushlands and tundra
Wild population	Unknown, but decreasing (Red List IUCN 2011)
Zoo population	90 reported to ISIS (2008)

In the Zoo

How this animal should be transported

Transportation during the warm summer months should be avoided and preferably be delayed to late autumn or winter.

For air transport, Container Note 82 of the IATA Live Animals Regulations should be followed.

Find this animal on ZooLex

Photo Copyright by
U.S. National Park Service

Why do zoos keep this animal

European zoos keep the wolverine, which is a vulnerable species, in the framework of a coordinated ex situ-breeding programme. The species is more common in Scandinavian zoos, many of which display native species only.

How this animal should be kept

Wolverines are very active animals needing fairly large enclosures. It is recommended that an enclosure for a pair should have a size of at least 200 m², in Sweden the legal minimum size is even 800 m². As males may have to be separated from females with cubs, it must be possible to subdivide the enclosure or to have two full enclosures available for a pair, and additional enclosures for additional animals. For each adult a den of at least 1.5 m² is required.

The enclosure should be furnished with hollow logs and rocks for hiding and scent-marking, trees for climbing and a shallow pool for bathing.

Ideally, the enclosure has natural soil covered with grass, herbaceous plants and bushed. Live trees should be at least 2 m away from the perimeter fence or should be secured by hot wires or collars of a strong climb-prebenting material.

Enclosures may be confined by walls, glass panels, moats, or fences with hot wires and/or an overhang. If fences are used, they should be 2 m high with an additional 0.8 m overhang at an angle of 45°. As wolverines are digging, the foundation of the confinement should reach at least 0.8 m below ground.

The wolverines are fed meat on the bone supplemented with vitamins, or entire carcasses of rabbits, rodents and poultry.