Wolverines are wide-ranging boreal carnivores facing welfare threats from persecution by reindeer herders, prey depletion, and climate-driven snow cover reduction across Scandinavian ranges.
Wolverine welfare is acutely threatened by persecution from reindeer herders who suffer genuine losses from wolverine predation. Leg-hold traps, snaring, and poisoning cause severe suffering and slow deaths. Climate-driven snow cover reduction means that wolverine dens — excavated in deep snow — are increasingly lost to thaw during the critical cub-rearing period, causing hypothermia and starvation of cubs. Compensation schemes for reindeer losses reduce persecution incentives, and carnivore coexistence research provides evidence-based approaches that reduce conflict without welfare harm to wolverines.