Wolverines across Canada's boreal and subarctic regions are commercially trapped for their fur, with welfare concerns around trap types, time to death, and the impacts of trapping on population dynamics.
Wolverines caught in leg-hold traps experience severe pain from limb restraint, tissue damage, and prolonged confinement before the trapper returns — often after 24-48 hours or more in remote locations. Killing trap designs certified under the Agreement on International Humane Trapping Standards (AIHTS) should achieve rapid loss of consciousness but trap setting and maintenance quality varies significantly. Orphaned kits whose mothers are trapped during the denning season face starvation. Commercial fur trapping creates population-level pressure on wolverines already stressed by climate change affecting their snowpack-dependent denning.