Tomorrow Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) will unveil the Colorado Wolverine Restoration Plan, which will serve as a guide to help restore the species to Colorado after a century-long absence. This effort was authorized by a bipartisan list of supporters in the 2024 Colorado State Legislature through the passage of SB24-171 which called for CPW to restore these 20- to 35-pound weasels that look like small bears with bushy tails and live in alpine areas near treeline. …. The Colorado Wolverine Restoration Plan is the first of four pieces to be completed. SB24-171 requires a CPW Commission rule be established regarding compensation for depredation of livestock by wolverines. …. Wolverine depredation on livestock is not anticipated to be significant given the history in states where wolverines have lived for the last five decades, their small size, and naturally low densities.

Wolverines (Gulo gulo), the mustelid carnivores of the world’s boreal forests, are making a comeback in southern Finland after having been wiped out from there due to hunting, a new study has found. Researchers at Aalto University in Finland combined snow track counts of wolverines with national forest inventory data based on satellite images and field measurements. …. The wolverine was classified as endangered in Finland already in the 1980s. The species is known to have inhabited southern Finland till the 19th century after which, hunting caused its local extirpation. “The species is returning to its historical range in southern Finland,” a statement quoted Pinja-Emilia Lämsä, a doctoral researcher at Aalto University. The study added that the wolverine’s survival remains threatened by its small population size, low genetic viability, and fragmented distribution.