Defenders' Experts
Wolverine
Called “skunk bear” by the Blackfeet Indians, the wolverine
is the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family.
The numbers of wolverines are perilously low in the lower-48 states, and yet the species still does not have any federal protection. Since 2000, Defenders has been actively involved in trying to make sure that this remarkable animal is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Defenders Challenges Bush Administration Decision Not to Protect Wolverines in the U.S.
Sept. 30, 2008 - A recent federal decision refusing to protect wolverines in the western United States is a case of political considerations winning out over scientific findings by wildlife experts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, according to a coalition of 10 conservation groups that filed suit today in U.S. District Court to challenge the agency’s decision to not protect the species under the Endangered Species Act.
Joint Press Release
Officially Filed Wolverine Complaint
USFWS 12 Month Finding on Petition to List the Wolverine
Statement from Jamie Clark on the 12-Month Finding
In the Field
Defenders worked in cooperation with the Forest Service and Glacier National Park to support crucial wolverine research. By tracking wolverines with radio-collars we learned about which types of habitat they prefer, what they eat, and where they den and raise young.
Management and Policy
Heavy trapping and poisoning up until the early 1900s and habitat degradation and fragmentation that continues today are the major factors contributing to the wolverine’s imperiled status in the western U.S. Since 2000, Defenders and other conservation groups have been pushing the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the wolverine under the Endangered Species Act, yet they refuse to do so.
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