Monumental monitoring effort turns up two wolverines caught on camera
A team of Wyoming Game and Fish Department researchers recently detected two wolverines on trail cameras in northwestern Wyoming. These rare sightings are a significant boost to the three-year monitoring initiative studying wolverine distribution in the Bighorn Mountains and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
“These latest images build on our knowledge of wolverines in Wyoming, and the observations fall within expected wolverine habitat,” said Zack Walker, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s non-game bird and mammal supervisor.
In late 2016, Game and Fish biologists and a team of volunteers placed trail cameras throughout the Bighorn Mountains and Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Trail cameras provide data on wolverine presence while wire brushes are designed to snag a few hairs from passing animals that can be used for DNA analysis. Wolverines live in habitats with limited amounts of food so individual animals require hundreds of square miles to live and reproduce. This means the number of animals living in a given area is extremely low.
In Wyoming, wolverine habitat occurs at high elevations, often in designated wilderness areas. This rugged terrain can be challenging to access any time of the year, but particularly in winter.
Monitoring of wolverines has occurred the last two winters in Wyoming by the Game and Fish with significant support from the U.S. Forest Service and volunteers. During the winter
of 2015-2016, wolverines were detected in three of the 25 monitored cells. Game and Fish is surveying an
additional 26 cells during the winter of 2016-2017.
Funding for this three-year project was provided by the Wyoming State Legislature with project support from the Wolverine Initiative and the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes. More information about wolverines and the study team’s efforts in Wyoming can be found on the
Wyoming Game and Fish (307) 777-4600
