New Delhi: Wolverines lost some 100 years ago have returned in the USA’s Mount Rainier National Park. A Mother wolverine was caught in camera with her two kits.
The Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Chip Jenkins said “It’s really, really exciting. It tells us something about the condition of the park that when we have such large-ranging carnivores present on the landscape that we’re doing a good job of managing our wilderness”
In 2018, scientists from the Cascades Carnivore Project, (CCP) set the cameras in the Mount Rainier National Park.
After the confirmation, CCP scientist starts to believe that wolverines may start returning to the Washington state park. CCP scientists are raising awareness about less understood carnivores of North America’s forests, such as fishers, lynx, and wolverines.
Furthermore, Dr. Jocelyn Akins of the CCP said “Many species that live at high elevation in the Pacific Northwest, such as the wolverine, are of particular conservation concern due to their unique evolutionary histories and their sensitivity to climate change”
“They serve as indicators of future changes that will eventually affect more tolerant species and, as such, make good models for conservation in a changing world.” Dr. Jocelyn Akins added
The National Parks Service estimates their density to be about one individual per 100 square miles, leading to a total of between 300 and 1,000 in the lower 48 states and as per the research and facts, the wolverines are extremely rare in the United States, and even in regions of prime habitat.
A park ecologist Dr. Tara Chestnut said “Backcountry enthusiasts, skiers, snowshoers and snowmobilers can help us monitor wolverines and contribute to studying their natural return to the Cascade ecosystem.”
_Vinayak.Barot
