Wolverines depend on persistent spring snowpack for denning, and climate-driven snow loss is creating welfare harms through denning failure, kit mortality, and habitat compression.
Wolverine welfare under climate change is concentrated at the most vulnerable life stage: natal denning. When early snowmelt exposes dens before kits can regulate their own body temperature, the outcome is hypothermic death for the most vulnerable individuals — a direct welfare harm from climate-induced habitat degradation. Adults face secondary welfare impacts through habitat compression, increased energetic costs of movement through degraded snowpack, and altered prey availability. The slow reproductive rate means population recovery from climate-driven decline is slow even if warming stabilizes, making early protective action both ecologically and welfare-critical.