Forestry and development have pushed the ferocious carnivore into Ontario’s far north. A new research project is looking for ways to bring the species back

Above image: Adult wolverines require large territories, which can lead to contact with humans

It’s the last day of winter, and Scrafford is preparing to drive from his base in Thunder Bay to Red Lake, a mining and forestry hub 200 kilometres north of Dryden, at the end of the main highway. That is the jumping-off point for a 3,000-square-kilometre study area where he and a small team from the Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS Canada), a non-profit research organization, will spend portions of the next three years capturing up to 20 adult wolverines, fitting them with GPS collars, and then releasing and tracking them onscreen and in the field – as they go about their lives.

This is roughly the southern limit of the wolverine’s current range in Ontario, where the animal is listed as threatened under the provincial Endangered Species Act (ESA). Most people think of this area as wilderness, but it is riddled with a network of logged tracts, roads and small communities.

“Forestry has a large footprint, close to on a par with what oil and gas has in Alberta,” says Scrafford, a lean, bearded biologist who spent five years researching wolverines in Alberta for his PhD before joining WCS Canada last year. “But the disturbances are different.”

What habitat disturbance means for the estimated fewer than 1,000 wolverines in the province is an open question. While the species can thrive in forested and open habitats, and is both a scavenger and a predator (the wolverine’s well-deserved Latin name is Gulo gulo, which translates as “glutton”), it has a lower reproductive potential than many other large carnivores. Seeing how wolverines are adapting to their changing landscape is one of the main aims of WCS Canada’s research along with getting a better understanding of the species’ denning habits, abundance and population trends. “Hopefully, that information can then be translated into best-management practices for forestry to abide by,” says Scrafford.

WCS Canada is taking its cue from the provincial government’s 2016 response to the wolverine recovery strategy, in which it calls for “further research, monitoring and modeling efforts.” It is an urgent task. Logging around Red Lake is intense and expanding. Wolverine habitat in the far north may also come under pressure as technology and climate change make forestry viable there. Further risks stem from the mining industry as it looks to expand in and around the Ring of Fire, a massive planned chromite mining and smelting project in the James Bay Lowlands.

Compounding these threats, the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) is revisiting its forestry guidelines for wildlife and habitat protection. In 2013, the government exempted forestry and mining from ESA requirements to avoid activities that harm protected animals and their habitat – an exemption recently extended to 2020. Several environmental groups, including Ontario Nature, unsuccessfully challenged this loophole in court. Conservation advocates worry that the government’s recovery goals for the wolverine are weak – “going for what is easily achievable rather than what is good for the species,” says Tanya Pulfer, Ontario Nature’s conservation science manager – and that the lack of funding and clear targets will stymie protection efforts.

Scrafford, for his part, recalls with some amazement finding a female wolverine during his studies in Alberta that had dug its way into a beaver lodge, killed and ate the beaver and then used the lodge for her den.

Wolverines have distinctive thick dark-brown fur, facial masks and pale golden-brown stripes. Although they are the largest members of the weasel family (related to minks, badgers and martens), they are no bigger than medium-sized dogs. Nevertheless, says Ray, “they’re often characterized as a large predator because of their formidability. They’re built like brick houses.”

Despite their fearsome reputations, relatively little is known about wolverines compared to other mammals. Prior to this century, much of the Ontario wolverine population data was derived from incidental observations and trapper reports. The animals’ numbers and range shrank from the late 1800s, likely bottoming out in the 1970s or 1980s, by which time the species had withdrawn to the far northwest of the province. Subsequent research and reports indicate a slight rebound and range expansion to the east, toward James Bay, possibly due to the shifting distribution of caribou, a key part of the wolverine diet.

Despite their fearsome reputations, relatively little is known about wolverines compared to other mammals. Prior to this century, much of the Ontario wolverine population data was derived from incidental observations and trapper reports. The animals’ numbers and range shrank from the late 1800s, likely bottoming out in the 1970s or 1980s, by which time the species had withdrawn to the far northwest of the province. Subsequent research and reports indicate a slight rebound and range expansion to the east, toward James Bay, possibly due to the shifting distribution of caribou, a key part of the wolverine diet.

This finding emerged from the Ontario Boreal Wolverine Project, led by MNRF in partnership with WCS Canada and the U.S.-based non-profit Wolverine Foundation. Starting in the early 2000s, scientists combined detailed, on-the-ground research, including live trapping and collaring of six animals in the Red Lake area, with aerial surveys and interviews with First Nations trappers to estimate the species’ population size and distribution. “We were pleasantly surprised,” says Jeff Bowman, a research scientist in MNRF’s wildlife research and monitoring section, who was involved in the project.

Since then, WCS Canada has continued to engage with trappers and to conduct aerial winter surveys, looking for telltale tracks in the snow. Scrafford works closely with the trappers now to determine where to locate his live traps. While wolverine trapping by non-Indigenous people was banned in 2009, the animals are attracted to bait in traps set for other carnivores and sometimes are caught. The provincial government requires trappers to report any such incidents to help with population monitoring.

Scrafford’s team plans to do all the trapping in late fall, winter and early spring. Not only is access on frozen ground and waterways easier than bushwhacking through underbrush in summer, but bears, which would otherwise compete for the beaver bait, are hibernating. “Late March [or] early April is generally when you catch the largest numbers of animals,” Scrafford explains.

Most of the wolverines caught at this time will be young adult males, adult males and sub-adult females. Adult female wolverines are usually denning – they give birth in February and March — and never stray far until their kits (usually one or two per litter) are weaned in mid-May. Over the course of the three-year project, however, Scrafford hopes to collar several females. “There’s not very much information on where wolverines have their natal dens in Ontario,” he says. The team hopes to track the females to see how they use their habitat while they are denning. This information can help shape recommendations for forestry practices, such as leaving buffers or creating structures (brush piles, log decks or upturned trees) that wolverines can use for dens.

Scrafford hopes that by mapping the data the tracking collars provide, scientists can get a clearer picture of the animals’ location preferences, range and relationship to human activity (how close they are to roads or how much time they spend around camps and housing developments). “We don’t want to be doing anything now that would reduce their population any more,” he says.

HOWEVER REVEALING the forthcoming research might prove to be, responsibility for translating it into policy and enforcement rests with MNRF. Environmental groups have concerns about the ministry’s lack of firm commitments — both in terms of specific steps and who will take charge of them. For example, most priority actions identified by the government’s response to the recovery strategy are classified as “government supported” rather than “government led.”

According to Neil Dawson, wildlife populations specialist with MNRF in Thunder Bay and a long-time partner on the WCS Canada research, this reflects the need for partnerships: “The government can’t do it alone.” Through its Species at Risk Stewardship Fund, the provincial government makes money available to NGOs and community and conservation groups to carry out the needed work, which can be costly due to the paucity of baseline knowledge, the remoteness of wolverines’ habitat and the cost of aerial surveys.

How committed MNRF is to wolverine research is another concern. While the species may be a priority today, “there’s no guarantee of that in the future,” says Pulfer.

In Scrafford’s view, the best measures would not only ensure that forestry practices and development do not inflict any new harm on wolverines or their habitat, but also help the animals move back into their former territory. Depending on what his research reveals – in August, Scrafford provided an update on the first stage of his study, saying they had captured and collared one male and one female, and found the latter’s natal den – this could mean revised guidelines on such things as preservation of connected wooded areas and tree cover, and improving buffers for dens.

It also requires that the landscape be considered not just a resource, but also a home for one of the province’s most storied and remarkable creatures. “We know there should be wolverines there, that there could be wolverines there,” says Scrafford. “So what can we do to make it happen?”

This article was originally published in ON Nature magazine Winter 2018. Photos (top to bottom) courtesy of pixabay.com/Wildfaces; pixabay.com/DanielBrachlow; Matt Scrafford/WCS Canada (bottom two).