USA: Alliance Petition Montana to Halt Trapping of Rare Wolverine

Updates
3 Dec 2012: Judge temporarily blocks wolverine trapping in Montana

15 October 2012: Conservation groups sue to end trapping of wolverines in Montana


--------------
PRESS RELEASE
August 1, 2012

CONTACT: Matthew Bishop, Attorney, Western Environmental Law Center,
406-324-8011 (office) or 406-422-9866 (mobile)

Helena, Mont. — The Western Environmental Law Center, on behalf of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and seven other local conservation groups and one individual, submitted a formal petition yesterday to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission ("MFWP") to halt the trapping of wolverine in Montana - the only state in the contiguous U.S. that still allows the imperiled animal to be trapped.

Wolverines resemble a small bear that is custom built for high-elevation, mountain living. They have large, crampon-clawed feet designed for digging, climbing, and walking on snow, and an extremely high metabolic rate. Its double fur coat includes a dense inner layer of wool beneath a cover of frost-shedding guard hairs and is the reason trappers target the animal.

Once prolific across the West, the wolverine population in the Lower 48 is now down to no more than 250-300 individuals. Montana has the highest concentration of wolverine in the Lower 48, but still only about 100-175 individuals. A substantial number of the remaining wolverines in Montana are likely unsuccessful breeders or non-breeding subadults. This means Montana's "effective population" of individuals who are able to breed is significantly smaller, perhaps less than 50.

So rare are these native carnivores that in December 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ("Service") designated the wolverine a species that warrants protection under the federal Endangered Species Act, but the level of protection has not yet been determined. The Service determined that an already small and vulnerable population of wolverine in the lower 48 will continue to decline in the face of climate change...

Source: Alliance Petition Montana to Halt Trapping of Rare Wolverine
Author: Alliance for the Wild Rockies