A wolverine was spotted three times last month in the eastern Sierra Nevada, a rare occurrence for an animal that’s only been seen one other time in California over the last 100 years, state wildlife officials said.
While wolverines are native to California, they’ve been essentially extinct from the state since the 1920s – likely the result of hunting and fur trapping in the decades following the gold rush, though records from the time don’t indicate what exactly caused the population to decline.
One wolverine was spotted in the state from 2008 to 2018, beginning in the Tahoe National Forest, officials said. Last month’s wolverine is likely a different one because the animal’s lifespan is usually 12 to 13 years.
The latest wolverine appears to be a young male seeking a mate. The animal has been spotted twice in the Inyo National Forest and once in Yosemite National Park.
“It’s just really exciting and surprising,” said Daniel Gammons, a senior environmental scientist in California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Male wolverines walk through huge territories – easily several hundred square kilometers – and this winter’s heavy snowfall in the West may have created “habitat bridges” for the wolverine, Gammons said. The animal could have traveled from the Rocky and Cascade mountain ranges, or from as far away as Canada or Alaska.
Wolverines are members of a diverse group of mammals collectively known as mustelids, which includes weasels, badgers and otters. They are the largest land-based member of the family, famous for their elusive nature, love of snow and ability to punch above their weight. Three feet (1m) long and 15 to 50lb (7 to 18kg), wolverines are compact animals resembling small bears with bushy tails, large skulls and powerful jaws capable of crunching through frozen meat and bone.
These traits, along with their snowshoe-like feet and dense fur, make them highly adapted to snowy arctic and sub-arctic environments. Snow seems to be particularly important to mother wolverines, who consistently choose the deepest snow available to make their dens in snow tunnels or under snow-covered rocks or logs between February and April.
During the early 1900s, the wolverine was nearly extinct from the lower 48 states due to fur-trapping, predator poisoning and lack of prey, but has since returned to much of its historic range.
US conservationists have long fought for its protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, but were denied in 2020 as the US Fish and Wildlife Service declared there to be enough of the species in Canada and sufficient snow to accommodate the creature in upper elevations.
Wildlife officials are trying to get a specimen of the wolverine’s hair or scat for genetic testing. The species – the largest terrestrial member of the weasel family – is listed as threatened under the California Endangered Species Act.
