Wolverines are legally trapped in parts of their range for fur despite their low population density, and the welfare of trapped animals has received increasing scientific and public attention.
Trapped wolverines experience acute and potentially prolonged welfare impacts. Leg-hold trap injuries include tissue bruising, lacerations, and in severe cases bone fractures from the trapping mechanism and from the powerful struggling behaviour of trapped animals. Wolverines caught in leg-hold traps have been documented chewing off their own feet to escape, indicating extreme levels of distress. Animals that remain trapped until the trapper checks their line experience cumulative welfare harms from exposure, predator vulnerability, and ongoing pain. Prolonged restraint in cold weather causes hypothermia risk. Death in body-gripping traps when correctly deployed is rapid, but incorrect placement or sizing results in non-lethal capture with severe injury. The sustainability of wolverine trapping across their range, given their small and potentially climate-threatened populations, compounds the welfare concern with conservation risk.