Wolverine Welfare: Trapping in Canada's Fur Trade

The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is Canada's largest terrestrial mustelid, inhabiting boreal and alpine regions. Legal trapping for the fur trade causes significant welfare concerns: leg-hold traps, body-gripping traps, and snares inflict trauma and prolonged suffering before death.

Key Facts

Wolverines have the largest home ranges of any terrestrial mustelid — up to 900 km2 per individual
Canada legally permits wolverine trapping in most provinces and territories
Leg-hold traps cause limb fractures, tendon damage, and exhaustion before the trapper returns
Wolverines in leg-hold traps may chew off their own limb in attempts to escape — a documented stress response
The global wolverine population is estimated at only 250,000-300,000 and is sensitive to localized hunting pressure

Welfare Considerations

Leg-hold and body-gripping traps inflict acute trauma and prolonged suffering. Animals caught in leg-hold traps may wait 24-72 hours before a trapper arrives, experiencing severe pain, exposure, dehydration, and predation risk. Wolverines are particularly stress-sensitive and may die of capture myopathy — a condition caused by extreme muscle breakdown from sustained struggling. Body-gripping traps targeting wolverines are frequently non-lethal, requiring extended time to death. Welfare reforms include mandatory checking intervals, use of killing traps set to meet internationally agreed humaneness standards (ISO 10990), and education programs on distinguishing target from non-target captures.

What You Can Do

Support wildlife welfare reforms in Canadian provincial trapping regulations
Advocate for mandatory short trap-checking intervals to reduce suffering duration
Support research into more humane kill-trap designs meeting ISO 10990 standards
Choose fur-free products or certified responsibly-trapped products from certified programs
Donate to wolverine research and advocacy organisations such as the Wolverine Foundation