Wolverines are highly climate-sensitive carnivores whose welfare and population viability are threatened by snowpack reduction that affects denning, food caching, and pup survival.
Wolverine welfare is at the leading edge of climate-driven wildlife welfare decline. The species has specific snow requirements — persistent spring snowpack for den insulation — that are being eroded by warming temperatures across much of their range. Female wolverines that cannot find adequate denning habitat may attempt to den in suboptimal locations, with consequences for pup survival that represent direct welfare costs to both the mother and offspring. The large territory requirements of wolverines mean that landscape connectivity is essential — fragmented habitats separated by roads and development create populations unable to exchange individuals, accelerating genetic impoverishment. Unlike species that might adapt by shifting their range, wolverines require specific alpine and boreal habitat conditions that are retreating faster than animals can track.