Wolverines
Wolverines are well adapted to live in northern environments where wilderness areas still exist.
Why wolverines matter
Wolverines can act as an indicator of the health of wild ecosystems. Their presence signifies an area has vast undisturbed habitats with minimal human activity − habitat characteristics important for populations of many threatened wildlife species that share space with wolverines.
The species was once found across most of Canada, but due to human disturbances, such as road building, they now live in largely inaccessible northern boreal, alpine, and tundra areas.
Status
- Special Concern in Canada
- Threatened in Ontario
Areas of concern
Where wolverines are (and aren't)
Wolverines are found across boreal forest, mountain, and Arctic tundra habitats of Canada. Their primary range loss has occurred along the southern edge of the boreal forest, the plains, and eastern Canada (e.g., Quebec, Labrador).
Habitat loss and disturbance
Wolverines lack resilience to human disturbance because they occur at low densities, occupy large territories, and are slow to reproduce.
Their habitats are being developed and fragmented by the mining, forestry, and petroleum industries. Industrial developments, such as roads and forest harvest areas, degrade wolverine habitat quality and can increase their mortality from human sources.
Climate change
Wolverines are morphologically and physiologically adapted to cold and snowy climates. Their large paws act as snowshoes to ease movements across a deep snowpack. They den in snow caves dug into rock fields or fallen trees. A lack of deep snow with climate change, or a decrease in the quality of the snowpack, might limit their mobility, competitive advantage, and denning success.
Our solutions
Innovative field research
Our research focuses on wolverine distribution and response to human disturbance in Canada’s boreal forest. We have used radiotelemetry in northwestern Alberta and northwestern Ontario to understand the effect of human disturbances, such as roads and forest harvest areas, on wolverine physiology, distribution, reproduction, and movement.
Our grids of camera traps in these areas allow us to understand wolverine density and how it changes with human disturbances. Our aerial surveys throughout northern Ontario between 2003 and 2024 have allowed us to track and understand drivers of wolverine distribution across large scales.
Our work has updated the population status of wolverines and provided techniques to minimize the effects of human disturbances on wolverine populations and habitats.
Working with Indigenous communities and young scientists
The Wolverine Program works closely with local and Indigenous communities. Fur trappers and local people are active participants in our field research, lending their fine-tuned local knowledge as the “eyes and ears of the bush”. We also work with students to help train the next generation of conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts.
Projects
Identifying key wolverine habitat
We're surveying wolverine populations in northern Ontario to create a clearer picture of where wolverine are – and aren’t.
Stories and op-eds
Unlimited trapping is the wrong way to study Alberta's wolverines
Using the wrong tool for the job is inefficient and often ineffective, as many Albertans know.
Building a wolverine trap
How do you attach a collar to a wolverine?
Community science is helping track wolverines in the Cascades
Tracks left by wildlife provide a wealth of information that help inform their management and conservationMedia coverage
Rarefied podcast - Wolverine: Marvelous mammal
Concerns raised over continual changes to Alberta's trapping and hunting rules
Opinion: Unlimited trapping is the wrong way to study Alberta's wolverines
Press releases
