Utah researchers made a “once-in-a-lifetime” discovery last week. Living wolverine It was suspected that 18 sheep had died in the area.
Recluse carnivores were first discovered by US Department of Agriculture workers flying over Rich County on Thursday. They were conducting livestock protection surveillance when they saw scary mammals eating dead sheep.
The mutton trap was immediately put out in collaboration with biologists, wildlife officials and local shepherds.
Elusive animals were found in traps on Friday morning, said the Utah sector of wildlife resources. Biologists sedated Wolverine, a man about 3-4 years old, and performed a general examination.
He was fitted with a GPS collar so that wildlife personnel could monitor his movements and whereabouts. Authorities released him to Uinta Mountains public land by Friday night.
Jim Kristensen, a wildlife manager in the northern region of the Wildlife Resources Division, called this a “once-in-a-lifetime” experience.
“By putting a collar on this wolverine, you can learn about Utah wolverines that you can’t learn otherwise,” says Kristensen. “In 2021, we saw four different wolverine sightings in Utah. Did you see the same or different animals last year? Wearing a collar on this animal will help solve that mystery.”
Wolverines look like little bears and share a seemingly similar name to certain dogs, but they are actually a variant of the Mustelidae family, including weasels and otters. The North American wolverine population has declined relatively in recent years and has only been witnessed eight times in Utah since 1979.
Questa was commonly found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and the Southern Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico. According to the National Wildlife Federation..
The federation, which estimates that 30% of Wolverine’s habitat will be eradicated over the next 30 years due to climate change, says the species is considering protection under the Endangered Species Act.