STATUS
Critically Endangered
The wolverine is a powerful animal that resembles a small bear but is actually the largest member of the weasel family.Though sometimes referred to as "skunk bears" because they look like a cross between a skunk and a bear, wolverines are actually the largest members of the weasel family. They are 65-108 cm (25-42 in.) long and weigh 9-25 kg (20-55 lb.). This is about the size of a medium dog.
Wolverines eat a bit of vegetarian fare, like plants and berries, in the summer season, but this does not make up a major part of their diet-they are tenacious predators with a taste for meat. Wolverines easily dispatch smaller prey, such as rabbits and rodents, but may even attack animals many times their size, such as caribou, if the prey appears to be weak or injured. These opportunistic eaters also feed on carrion-the corpses of larger mammals, such as elk, deer, and caribou. Such finds sustain them in winter when other prey may be thinner on the ground, though they have also been known to dig into burrows and eat hibernating mammals.
Wolverines are always on the move. They travel long distances in search of food–as far as 24 km (15 mi.) in one day. They will eat almost anything they can find. Most often they will eat carrion (dead animals). They have strong jaws that allow them to chew through frozen meat and bones. Wolverines have been known to chase away larger animals to protect their own food or to steal the food from the larger predators.
STATUS
Critically Endangered
SCIENTIFIC NAME
Gulo gulo
POPULATION
Only 300 left
LENGTH
65 to 110 cm (1 meter)
WEIGHT
9 to 25 kilograms
HABITAT
ARTIC POLES
Keeping wild areas intact is therefore of vital importance to wolverines. Wolverines are both predators and scavengers with sharp teeth and powerful jaws enabling them to gnaw and tear through frozen meat and bones. ... Wolverines, like caribou, are an excellent indicator of the general health of wild ecosystems.
Wolverines have a keen sense of smell that can detect a dead animal 20 feet under the snow.
The wolverine is a cold-adapted carnivore and facultative scavenger. It has a circumboreal distribution, where it could be either suppressed or subsidized by larger predators.
Wolverines will dig into burrows and kill hibernating animals. Their strong jaws can crush and eat large bones. Wolverines will refrigerate their kills in the snow.
They've got strong claws for digging and defense, and incredibly strong jaws for biting and crushing bone and frozen meat - not the same crushing power as a wolf, but they're not as big, a big wolverine is 40 pounds and small wolf is 60 pounds.
