Dances With Wolverine

Mount Revelstoke National Park

Motion-sensitive cameras in British Columbia’s Glacier National Park have captured amazing images of the elusive wolverine doing something rarely seen. “Few people ever see a wolverine in the wild and here we have recorded images of a wolverine doing something unique at one of the research stations,” said Kelsey Furk, a biologist with the park.

The cameras were set up for the winter months at research study sites in the park to capture images of the wolverine. The study sites also include baited trees with barbed wire to collect wolverine hair samples to help determine genetic patterns. The park is trying to detect the presence and behaviour of wolverine in relation to the Trans Canada Highway and railway lines.

“This is a rare glimpse of an animal that most have never seen and we wanted to share this with Canadians but it is important to note that wolverine are wild animals and should not be approached.”

Learn more about wolverines

Parks Canada is looking for information from the public on wolverine and wolverine track sightings within and around Mount Revelstoke and Glacier national parks.

This data will be used to determine where wolverines are located in the park and where they might be crossing the highway corridor.

If you see a wolverine or its tracks, please note:

• time and date
• exact location (GPS location is ideal or best estimate from google earth)
• details about the tracks - are they fresh, or snow covered?
• estimate size of prints and distance between tracks (stride and straddle)
• take a photo of the track with something for scale (ie. a glove)

and email us this information or call 250.837.7500

Characteristics of a wolverine print

Characteristics of a wolverine print :

• 5 toes (fifth toe not always present)
• 8-10 cm across
• 10-12 cm long including claws and metacarpal print
• Chevron-shaped inter-digital pad
• Metacarpal print (not always present)
• 2X or 3X loping gait (see illustration below)