Wolverines require vast territories and reliable prey access to maintain welfare, but snowpack decline and human encroachment are increasingly threatening both.
Wolverines exist at such low densities and with such large territory requirements that habitat disruption has disproportionate welfare effects on individuals. A wolverine losing access to snowpack caching sites cannot maintain food security through winter. Females require undisturbed denning sites in deep snowpack for up to 10 weeks during kit-rearing - recreation disturbance during this period causes den abandonment and kit mortality. Federal Endangered Species Act protection is critical for this species.