By ZooMontana
Picture your bucket list. Maybe it includes skydiving, swimming with sharks or seeing the aurora borealis dance across the sky. For many outdoor and wildlife enthusiasts in the Northern Rockies, however, seeing a wolverine in the wild leads their list. Stocky and bear-like, wolverines remain one of North America’s most elusive mammals. But the question remains: How does an animal of this size move through its habitat virtually unseen, even by those who spend a lifetime exploring wolverine country?
Wolverines are members of the weasel, or mustelidae, group of animals. With relatives such as the pine marten, badgers, minks and otters, wolverines tip the scale as the heaviest member of the family. Weighing around 30 pounds, wolverines are characterized by their incredibly large paws and tireless, bounding strides.
The life of a wolverine
A wolverine’s ideal habitat comprises terrain most people wouldn’t dare navigate: ice-covered lakes, deep snowpack and a silence so complete you can hear a snowflake hit the ground. This is the world the wolverine was built for. With paws that act like snowshoes and claws that function like crampons, wolverines float across snowdrifts, patrolling up to 500 square miles of home territory in search of food or conspecifics.
Wolverines are medium-sized carnivores whose diets largely consist of meat scavenged from frozen carcasses. With an exceptional sense of smell, they can detect food buried beneath many feet of snowpack. Powerful claws allow them to dig down to their find, while a uniquely adapted rear molar enables wolverines to crush frozen meat and bone with remarkable force.
Like all scavengers, wolverines play a vital role in maintaining healthy ecosystems. By using cold weather as a natural freezer, they may cache and feed on a carcass over an entire season, sustaining themselves while helping remove remains that could otherwise spread disease once the snow begins to melt.
The wolverine’s range includes parts of Europe and Asia, as well as the high-altitude boreal forests of Alaska, Canada and the western United States, including Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming and Montana. Although their elusive nature makes population data difficult to collect, Montana is believed to support the highest density of wolverines in the lower 48 states. One of those populations can be found at ZooMontana.
Watch as co-hosts Peter Gros and Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant immerse themselves in the world of the wolverine in this Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild episode, “Trailing Wolverines”
ZooMontana to the rescue
Located in Billings, Montana, ZooMontana is one of the few Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accredited organizations where this incredible species resides. Since 2017, ZooMontana has been home to two wolverines, Sid and Ahmari. Each arrived as part of a collaborative effort between the AZA and the European AZA (EAZA). Launched in 2015, this joint initiative addressed a critical shortage of unrelated wolverines in North American breeding populations.
For many other breeding programs, decades of research on a species’ wild counterparts deepen our understanding of breeding and parenting behaviors, which help guide the zoo and aquarium professionals providing care. For wolverines, however, gathering this kind of data is extraordinarily difficult.
Wolverines give birth in late winter to early spring, using the terrain to their advantage. Nestled deep within the snowpack, a mother gives birth in a den made entirely of snow. Born pure white, wolverine kits blend seamlessly into the frozen world their mother has created for them. As the seasons shift, so do the wolverines’ coats. When the snow melts and the den disappears, the kits gradually transition to the species’ signature brown coloration, allowing them to remain camouflaged against the damp earth of spring.
Learn more about ZooMontana and their animal caretaker team.
Captive breeding — a story of success
Given their elusive nature, wolverines are especially sensitive to human disturbance, a reality that makes breeding within a human-centered facility particularly challenging. For ZooMontana, this meant the animal care team had to strike a careful balance: providing exceptional care and meaningful education while ensuring Ahmari and Sid had the space, privacy and security needed to feel comfortable enough to breed.
It wasn’t until 2023, six years after Sid and Ahmari were introduced, that ZooMontana celebrated the first litter of wolverine kits. Much to the staff’s surprise, on Jan. 30, 2023, two small white, wiggling bodies were seen with Ahmari inside a hollowed log in the center of their habitat — directly within guest view. Side by side, the staff and guests of ZooMontana were able to watch the rare and remarkable experience of wolverine kits growing up before their eyes.
Once the two kits reached an age of independence, it was time for them to leave mom. Just as they would in the wild, both kits departed ZooMontana for new homes at zoos in San Francisco and Minnesota, bringing their newly introduced genes into the wolverine breeding program.
The following year, Sid and Ahmari welcomed a single kit, the first female wolverine born at ZooMontana. Most recently, the pair celebrated their final litter of three healthy kits. In a span of only three years, six wolverines were born at ZooMontana, bolstering the North American zoo breeding population only eight years after the zoo began housing the species.
The future of wolverines
To prevent a genetic bottleneck and support the long-term health of the population, Ahmari and Sid will next be paired with new, unrelated mates. This will allow ZooMontana to continue contributing to the wolverine breeding program. Maintaining this diversity ensures zoo and aquarium populations can serve as a vital backup should wild populations decline. For biologists, this protective measure took on added importance in 2023, when wolverines were officially listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.
In order for an animal to be listed as a threatened species, there must be external pressures that could one day push it toward endangerment or extinction. For wolverines, survival is closely tied to reliable snowpack and the preservation of truly wild landscapes with minimal human disturbance. As climate patterns shift and human encroachment expands, ensuring the long-term future of these remarkable animals becomes more important than ever.
Today, it’s estimated that fewer than 350 wolverines remain in the lower 48 states. Even so, an inspiring network of organizations and research teams is working to better understand this elusive species through innovative, noninvasive research methods. At ZooMontana, efforts extend beyond breeding and guest education. ZooMontana is raising awareness about how individuals can support and contribute to the continuation of this critical research, helping secure a future for wolverines in the wild.
ZooMontana launched its Quarters for Conservation program to directly support organizations dedicated to saving species in the wild. Through this initiative, guests can round up any purchase to the nearest quarter, with proceeds benefiting the featured conservation organization of the month. To celebrate wolverine kit season, ZooMontana has dedicated the month of February for the past three years to organizations focused on wolverine conservation. Groups such as The Wolverine Foundation, Swan Valley Connections and Yellowstone to Yukon have all been recipients of Quarters for Conservation support. By sharing the missions and visions of organizations like these, ZooMontana helps guests learn how they can make a difference for wolverines, starting right from their own backyard.
How you can help protect wolverines
Wondering what steps you can take to support the preservation of this incredible species?
- Reduce your climate impact: Wolverines depend on persistent snowpack for survival and reproduction. Lowering your carbon footprint and supporting clean energy solutions helps safeguard the cold, high-elevation habitats they rely on.
- Recreate responsibly: When enjoying winter recreation, respect seasonal closures and stay on designated trails. These actions reduce disturbance near sensitive wolverine denning areas.
- Talk to people: Sharing the story of the wolverine is a powerful first step in becoming an advocate. After all, it’s difficult to care about something we don’t yet understand.
- Support AZA-accredited facilities: Institutions like ZooMontana play an important role in preserving threatened and endangered species like the wolverine. These organizations also provide safe and sustainable ways to observe wild animals without disturbing their habitats.
