; Listed species: This tab provides information about endangered and threatened animal and plant species in Alaska; information about the process of listing a species as endangered or threatened is also provided.
Fish and Wildlife Service withdrew a proposal to list the North American wolverine in the contiguous United States as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Although the wolverine has very specific habitat needs, was never a common species, and was widely persecuted, the primary reason now for a threatened listing is climate change.
Wolverines live primarily in isolated arctic and alpine regions of northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and Scandinavia. Montana is hanging on as the only state besides Alaska that allows trapping of wolverines, an elusive mountain dweller rejected for protection under the federal Endangered … Their paws are large and furry, and act as snowshoes that keep wolverines from sinking into the snow. They have strong, sharp teeth and semi-retractable claws that they use for digging, climbing and scaring away predators. Habitats/Behaviours. In Alaska, northern British Columbia and Canada's Northwest Territories, the animals have larger territories with density figures at one wolverine per every 124 square miles. Biologists estimate that, historically, several hundred lived in today’s lower 48 states.
The groups contend that FWS violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when it refused to protect wolverines in the U.S. because a healthy population still persists in Canada. Wolverines are found throughout Alaska but there are areas that wolverines tend to avoid or exist at lower densities because the habitat is not suitable for denning or are highly developed or used by people.
Seasonal ranges were all within a large home range; dispersal movements of more than 300 kilometers are known (Magoun 1985, Gardner et al. For thousands of years, wolverines have lived at naturally low densities in some of the most inaccessible terrain in the Northern Rockies and Cascades, Canada, and Alaska. The Wolverine’s powerful teeth and jaws are adapted for crushing the frozen meat they scavenge in winter. Wolverines live in cold weather with snow and ice, and will not be able to survive with warmer temperatures. Recent Actions : On August 13, 2014, the U.S. FWS' decision is its latest justification for denying long overdue protections to this imperiled animal -- protections which were first petitioned for nearly a decade ago. They are considered a species at risk in the Northwest Territories, Canada, a species of special concern in western Canada, and are currently on the US Fish and Wildlife Service list for consideration as a threatened or endangered species for the contiguous United States.