It's not easy for wolverines at the moment. Despite their reputation as being one of the fiercest creatures alive, wolverines are experiencing a steady population decline. It's gotten so bad that Federal Wildlife officials are proposing that the wolverine be made an endangered species.
The reason for their impending doom, according to the government, is ever-warming temperatures that lead to the decline of their natural, snow-bountiful habitat. The wolverine joins a club of endangered animals, such as the polar bear, that the government has carefully dealt with (listing these animals as endangered will not affect industrial activities as much) as to not set off any high-strung nerves.
"Extensive climate modeling indicates that the wolverine's snowpack habitat will be greatly reduced and fragmented in the coming years due to climate warming, thereby threatening the species with extinction. Wolverines are dependent on areas in high mountains,near the tree-line, where conditions are cold year-round and snow cover persists well into the month of May" reads a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service press release.
This isn't the first time that wolverines have had their population threatened. Wolverines were trapped extensively for their fur and poisoned during the 20th century, and while their population rebounded after increased awareness and interventions, they now face much more unforgiving threat - Mother Nature. Global warming is still a loosely-thrown-around term, and there is no single culprit for our increasingly-obvious climate change, but the fact remains that humans must have played a role.
The government estimates there are currently approximately 250-300 wolverines in the lower 48 states - which begs the question, how low do population counts have to drop before any kind of "serious" political action is taken?
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