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Defenders Magazine
Defenders in Action: Wolverines Shunned
It’s the mascot of the University of Michigan's college football team, but it’s unlikely you’ll see a wolverine in the Wolverine State—or most of the rest of the country, for that matter.
Only about 400 to 600 of the furry, banded animals (members of the weasel family) still live in the contiguous United States, mostly in the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest. Despite its rarity, federal officials recently denied a petition by Defenders and other conservation groups to add the wolverine to the endangered species list, saying there was insufficient evidence to warrant the listing.
Conservationists believe the animal's alpine habitat is under a growing threat from the expansion of snowmobiling and skiing, as well as from logging, mining and road-building.
"Available scientific information plainly demonstrates that the wolverine's continued existence in the lower 48 states is threatened by loss of habitat and other factors," says Michael Senatore of Defenders. "The decision to deny endangered species protection for the wolverine simply ignores this information and is otherwise legally and scientifically indefensible."
