Wolverine

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A wolverine

Another wolverine

The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a member of the Mustelidae family (the weasels). He is not related to the wolf or the bear, as some may think. The male is about 18 inches high, the female 14 inches. Their length ranges from 36 inches (female) to 45 (male) and they can become around 25 to 36 pounds. Their tail measures about 8 inches. Their brown fur protects them from the extremely cold temperatures and their big feet beware them from sinking in the snow.

Wolverines can be found in the Northern United States, in Canada, Alaska, Siberia, Russia, and also in Northern Europe.

The wolverine does not belong to the herbivores (an individual that eats nothing but plants). It is one of the smallest and most powerful predators in the world. If he was as big as a bear, he would be even the strongest animal in the world. But wolverines are not fast movers. Therefore, they do not hunt their prey. They often let other animals do the hunting and afterwards, the wolverines chase them away and are left to eat the kill. Another way of hunting is climbing up a tree and rest there until the prey pasts by. In this case, the wolverine attacks and kills it.

A wolverine feeds almost every non-vegetarian-food that he can find: mice, rats, birds, their eggs, reindeer and other large prey (only in winter, because when snow covers the ground, they are not able to flee as fast as in summer).

Every two or three years, the wolverines make babies. After nine months, in a snowdrift, a tree hollow or under a rock, the female gives birth to one to five lads (young wolverines). These live now up to 13 years and have to fear nothing except mankind.

The human is the wolverine’s only enemy. The wolverine’s thick, warm fur is in great demand to manufacture parkas or other winter clothes. As a consequence, the number of wolverines is going down more and more. Humans also destroy its living space to get oil or wood, which will probably cause the extinction (a species’ death) of this animal.