Yes, the wolverine is part of the weasel family along with otters, badgers, ferrets, and a bunch of others.  You can kind of see it with the short, stocky body and the attitude of a honey badger.  At least if you see a picture since most people picture the comic book character first.  Many don’t even realize Wolverine is named after the wolverine.  Hugh Jackman apparently didn’t know until he played the character.  The reason for the connection is because the superhero, like the animal, is short  (5’3” in comics), has keen senses, and is very vicious.

Before I dive into some facts about this animal, what is its conversation status?  Well, it usually gets listed as least concern because we don’t know their exact population.  Wolverines are solitary and have huge home ranges with males covering 240 miles and females covering 50-100 miles.  Members of the same sex try not to overlap territory, so you would likely only see a male and female together for mating.  The low population density makes it difficult to get an exact count.

Note I said ‘usually’ since in November 2023, US Fish and Wildlife Society added the wolverine to the threatened list.  Being cold weather animals, climate change is reducing their range and population since the females make their dens out of snow.  Wolverines also get into human developments, which causes conflict.  They can be very ferocious and threatening, which leads to conflict.  Although, there have not been any reported wolverine attacks on people since we aren’t seen as food.

So, what are some facts?

• Wolverines have claws that are similar to snow boot spikes and walk flat-footed, which allows them to climb difficult terrain easily.
• Their fur is oily and resistant to water in order to prevent getting covered in frost.
• A nickname of them is ‘skunk bear’ due to the potent odor from their anal gland territory markings.
• Wolverines are mostly scavengers and will steal food from other predators such as wolves and lynx.
• Their natural enemies are wolves, bears, cougars, and golden eagles with grey wolves being the biggest threat. Wolverines will challenge all of these for food.
• They are induced ovulators, which means the females will only ovulate when stimulated.  Males will have lifetime relationships with 2-3 females, which means some males will never breed.
• Mating season is in summer, but the female will go through delayed implantation until early winter.  Gestation is 30-50 days.
• Fathers do visit their children for the first 10 weeks.
• At 6 months old, some wolverine go with the father and travel for a bit.  Possibly to learn survival skills.
• Even though they weigh around 50 pounds, they will challenge much larger animals such as bears and moose.
• They live in the colder regions of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Now for some pics and video:

Yes. I figured I had to include him.