Wolverine display at Arctic Interagency Visitor Center at Coldfoot. (Photo from the US Fish and Wildlife Service)
The federal government announced that it will not put
the wolverine on the endangered species list. Steve Carmody
reports:
Transcript
The federal government announced that it will not put
the wolverine on the endangered species list. Steve Carmody
reports:
A federal court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to take a fresh look
at whether the wolverine should be listed. After the review, the agency
announced that it would not propose a listing for the animal.
Shawn Sartorius is the wolverine expert for the Wildlife Service.
He says the wolverine’s future is not dependant on the estimated 500 animals
that live in the lower 48 states.
“The healthy part of the population, the real genetically diverse and well connected population, is in Alaska and
Canada.”
Sartorius says between 15 and 20 thousand Wolverines live in Alaska and
Canada.
Wolverine numbers are down in the lower 48 states because they have been trapped for fur and
pushed out by development.
A former director of the US Fish Wildlife Service called the decision
“irresponsible.”
For the Environment Report, I’m Steve Carmody.