Wolverines are highly sensitive to snowpack loss from climate change, with population viability and individual welfare linked directly to the persistence of deep spring snow for denning.
Wolverine welfare is inseparable from snowpack conservation — the loss of spring snow eliminates the thermal buffer that allows wolverine kits to survive. Individual welfare during denning failure involves hypothermia and starvation of newborn kits — a severe welfare harm that is preventable only through climate action. Population-level welfare requires both climate mitigation and immediate conservation actions including trapping restrictions, habitat connectivity preservation, and research into thermal refugia that may persist under warming scenarios.