Wolverine
aka “Skunk-bear”
Gulo gulo

With their compact, muscular bodies, sharp claws, and powerful jaws, wolverines are the largest and fiercest members of the weasel family. Often called the “skunk-bear”, they have soft brown coats with broad, light brown stripes extending from shoulder to tail on each side of their body.

What They Eat
Both scavenger and predator, wolverines will eat whatever meat they find, mostly dead animals (carrion), and medium-sized mammals such as squirrels, hares, skunks, and foxes. Surplus food is usually protected by marking it with a musky odor to keep thieves away.

Where They Live
Wolverines prefer cool northern forests and tundra across North America, Asia, and Europe. They prefer snow, where their large feet keep them agile while slowing their prey.

What They Do
Wolverines are remarkably strong and ferocious for their size. Although not the best hunters, they have been known to kill animals as large as a moose. Always hungry, wolverines have great endurance and may travel vast distances-up to 40 miles a day—in search of food.

How They’re Doing
Historically found in northern Minnesota, wolverines were trapped to the edge of extinction in the early 1900s for their fur. If seen today, they are probably visiting from Canada.

Wolverine

Because frost doesn’t build up on the long hairs of wolverine fur, Arctic hunters preferred it for trims on the hoods of their coats.

Few animals will fight the ferocious wolverine. Although they are small, adults have no real natural predators—even wolves and grizzly bears have been known to get out of their way.

Wolverines look like a cross between a weasel and a bear. Because of their strong smell and bear-like appearance, some native peoples call wolverines “skunk bears”.

Adult male wolverines have large home ranges—up to 240 square miles. Adult females use smaller areas—between 50 to 100 square miles.

Helpful hints for viewing the animals

Wolverines are active day and night, all year round. Visit them at the Minnesota Zoo on the Medtronic Minnesota Trail.  

Wolverine

Care at the Zoo

Wolverines are powerful and active animals, which creates both challenges and opportunities for enriching their lives at the Zoo. Food frozen in blocks of ice allows the animals to work for their food. Food treats or scents are also added to paper-mâché piñatas.

Things you can do

Sponsor a Wolverine at the Minnesota Zoo!

 

 

Wolverine

The wolverine is considered vulnerable throughout its range. The status of wolverine populations is not known, due to the elusive nature of these animals.

Things the Zoo's Done/Doing

With the help of the Wolverine Foundation, researchers are currently attempting to get an accurate count of wolverine populations in southeast Alaska. They hope to study the preferred habitats of breeding females, learn more about how wolverines move about their territories, and find out how human disturbances affect wolverine populations. The project will use a variety of techniques to gather information, including infrared cameras to capture and identify wolverines in the area.

The Minnesota Zoo's Ulysses S. Seal Conservation Grant Program has supported additional camera traps for this project.

Wolverine

Wolverines are the largest and most ferocious members of the weasel family. Generally considered exceptionally strong for their size, they have powerful jaws and are capable of bringing down a deer or moose if they can catch it. Relentless in their pursuit of food, wolverines travel over large tracts of land constantly in search of their next meal.

Range and Habitat
Wolverines are found primarily in the most northern parts of North America, Europe, and Asia. They prefer large remote areas of undisturbed habitat, such as large forests, forested hills, taiga, and open tundra. In North America most wolverines are found in Canada. In the United States small populations can be found in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and the northern Cascades. Although present day sightings are rare, early fur trading records suggest that wolverines once roamed the northern half of Minnesota’s forests.

Habits and Adaptations
Large feet help wolverines travel easily across snow in the winter. They move rather slowly over land, but are excellent swimmers and climbers, rapidly ascending trees and coming back down headfirst. Wolverines prefer to live alone. Males typically share their large territory (75 square miles) with 2-3 females and come together only to breed. Nocturnal by nature, wolverines are active for 3-4 hours at night before resting for a similar length of time. Like skunks, wolverines possess anal glands that excrete a foul-smelling liquid used for scent marking and repelling predators.

Diet
Opportunistic hunters and scavengers, wolverines feed on carrion, eggs of ground nesting birds, wasp larvae, lemmings, and berries. During the winter they will kill any mammal in their territory, including deer, fox, hares, squirrels, and ground birds. Unlike some mustelids, wolverines do not kill more than they can eat, but sometimes bury their food or store it in tree forks.

Reproduction
Wolverines reach sexual maturity at 2.5 years. Like other members of the mustelid family, female wolverines are capable of delayed implantation (up to 9 months). This means if environmental conditions do not support a successful pregnancy at the time of breeding, (e.g. food scarcity), the fertilized egg can remain in “limbo” inside of the uterus until conditions become favorable. Breeding usually occurs in early spring or late fall. After 60 days, females give birth to 2-5 kits, usually in the early spring. The kits are nursed for 8-10 weeks and stay with the mother for two years before heading off on their own.