What wolverines require for good welfare in zoo settings and why their territorial ecology makes captive management particularly challenging.
Wolverine welfare in captivity is challenged by the dramatic mismatch between their natural range and what any zoo exhibit can provide. Animals adapted for hundreds of square kilometres of territorial hunting cannot be adequately provided for in typical zoo settings. The welfare of captive wolverines depends almost entirely on exhibit complexity - rocky substrates, climbing structures, multiple den sites, varied substrates for caching and foraging - and on isolation from other wolverines except during carefully managed breeding attempts. Facilities that cannot meet these complex needs should consider whether maintaining wolverines in their collection serves welfare goals or primarily serves institutional display interests.