Wolverines are wide-ranging, solitary carnivores that face threats from trapping, habitat loss, and climate change. Their welfare and conservation are deeply interconnected.
Wolverines trapped in leg-hold traps or snares experience severe pain from limb injuries and prolonged stress before death or release. Their extraordinary strength — capable of driving away bears and wolves from kills — means they can sustain severe injuries attempting to escape traps. Climate change is eliminating the persistent spring snowpack wolverines require for denning, with pups born in snow dens dependent on snow cover until mid-spring. Wolverines in zoos face extreme welfare challenges from their solitary, wide-ranging nature — space requirements are impossible to meet and stress behaviours are common. Each welfare harm in this charismatic but little-known species occurs largely outside public view.