Wolverines live in cold places in the far north of the world. In North America, they live mostly in Alaska and Canada. Snow is crucial for them: they use it for dens and for keeping food.
People rarely see wolverines because they are few and live in remote places, and they usually live alone. They have been studied less than many other meat-eating animals, because they are scarce and secretive.
Scientists use cameras that switch on by themselves to find wolverines.
A wolverine's large paws work like snowshoes on deep snow, and its long, curved claws help it climb.
Much of what a wolverine eats comes from animals that have already died. Deep snow helps wolverines hunt animals much larger than themselves.
Wolverines store extra food in holes or under the snow to eat later. A wolverine can travel many miles in one day while looking for food.
A mother wolverine builds a den in the snow to give birth to her babies and feed them milk. She can dig a snow den as deep as about 15 feet.
Her babies are called kits, and a mother usually has two to four kits at a time. Newborn kits are blind and weigh less than one pound.
Wolverines mate in summer, but the fertilized egg does not start to grow until early winter. So the kits are born in the cold months, between January and April.
Young wolverines are on their own by about five to six months old. In the wild, wolverines can live up to about 13 years.
Words to know
- scarce: few in number
- secretive: hard to see
- fertilized: starts a baby
- mate: pair up
