When you think of the word 鈥渨olverine鈥�, it might conjure visions of sports mascots, superheroes or war movies. Maybe that's because the real animal 鈥� more than a decade, in fact.
But state wildlife officials are hopeful about reintroduction efforts with a recent announcement from the . Michael Booth from the Colorado Sun joined KUNC to discuss that announcement, which classified wolverines as "threatened".
鈥淏esides being the stars of such excellent films as 鈥楻ed Dawn鈥� and the 鈥榅-Men鈥� series, wolverines are a pretty cool creature,鈥� Booth told KUNC. 鈥淭hey look like a bear with long legs, but they're actually part of the weasel family, along with black-footed ferrets.鈥�
Wolverines are rare in North America. Fur trappers and livestock owners mistaking them for predators have hunted their numbers down to just a few hundred. Wolverines haven't lived in Colorado for 14 years, though the mountains here are a great habitat for them.
鈥淭hey are amazingly private creatures,鈥� Booth said. 鈥淰ery few people have ever sighted them in the wild even where they do live.鈥�
Wolverines are capable of climbing thousands of feet in minutes. They like to dig their burrows deep under the snow in mountainous areas.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife has now classified the wolverine as 鈥渢hreatened鈥� under the Endangered Species Act. Booth said states considering reintroduction can now start taking some steps. The process can take years, partially to facilitate public and stakeholder comments.
Booth said environmental and wildlife advocates believe wolverine reintroduction should be less controversial than recent grey wolf reintroduction efforts. Wolverines are scavengers, so their diets consist mainly of animals that are sick, injured or dead.
鈥淥ne wolverine can take over an area that is up to 20 by 20 miles,鈥� Booth told KUNC. 鈥淪o it's not as if they're traveling in packs and threatening a lot of different livestock. So people just think it would be great if sometime in the next few years we did find a way to reintroduce them.鈥�
