Rare Wolverines Make New Home At Mount Rainier National Park

By Anna Blake

August 21, 2020

For the first time in more than 100 years, wolverines are back at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington state. The National Park Service said they spotted one female wolverine and her two offspring (called kits).

Wolverines Return to Mount Rainier National Park After More Than 100 Years, News Release: https://t.co/qmCkTDsFAU

Video of three wolverines at the end of a snowfield then running through a meadow into a forest. Credit: Travis Harris -kl pic.twitter.com/ALwJoAOmTG
— MountRainierNPS (@MountRainierNPS) August 20, 2020

Wolverines are rare in the U.S.

Right now in Washington state, there are only about 20; across the U.S. there are less than 1,000.

A couple of other fun facts: Wolverines belong to the weasel family, weigh around 45 pounds, and live in mountainous areas.

They are often described as resembling a small bear with a bushy tail.

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We have discovered the first reproductive female wolverine and her two kits at Mount Rainier National Park in over one hundred years, in collaboration with National Park Service scientists. Photo 1: Wolverine mama, Joni, and her kits. Photo 2: Joni displaying her giant paws at one of our monitoring stations. #conservation #gulogulo #nps #mountrainiernationalpark #nature

A post shared by Cascades Carnivore Project (@cascadescarnivore) on Aug 20, 2020 at 12:04pm PDT

Photo: Getty Images