Threatened Nunavut wolverine habitat may lead to species protection

The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada is calling for wolverines to be designated as a species of “special concern,” due to increased pressure from development in the southern parts of its range, just south of Nunavut. (PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)

Wolverines’ range in North America is shown in green in this image. Light green areas in Nunavut indicate “increased presence” and other areas show historic ranges and “unverified” observations. (IMAGE FROM ENVIRONMENT CANADA)

Wolverines may be plentiful in Nunavut at the moment — but reports that numbers are declining in the southern portion of the animal’s range could push federal authorities to classify it as a species of “special concern” under Canada’s Species at Risk Act.

Environment Canada is asking hunters and trappers associations in communities throughout Nunavut to give “their formal position on the proposed listing” by Jan. 15, 2015, the agency reported at a regular meeting of the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board in Rankin Inlet, Dec. 1.

The agency sent consultation packages to those stakeholders in November.

The “special concern” designation would not restrict harvest or regulate wolverines’ habitat in Canada, but it would require Environment Canada to “develop a wildlife management plan within three years” of the listing, the agency reported in a document to the Nunavut Wildlife Management Board.

Wolverines’ southern-most range in Canada covers northern regions of Ontario and all provinces to the west, and most of British Columbia.

An independent committee of wildlife experts and scientists tasked with keeping watch over Canada’s at-risk wildlife, known as the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), has noted that wolverines’ southern range “is increasingly fragmented by industrial activity,” Environment Canada stated.

“Increased vehicle access also increases harvest pressure,” the agency told the NWMB.

“Climate change is believed to be impacting animals in the southern part of the range, and is expected to increase northward.

“The species has a low reproductive rate, is sensitive to human disturbance and requires large areas of land to maintain healthy populations.”

Wolverines’ northern range covers Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island, and the animal has shown “increased presence” in the islands of the Kitikmeot region.

Environment Canada said it would take suggestions on the proposal from the NWMB at its meeting in Rankin Inlet. The agency stated it also plans to return to the wildlife board’s quarterly meeting in March 2015 “to ask for a formal suggestion on supporting COSEWIC’s recommendation to list the wolverine as a species of Special Concern.”

Nunavut hunters harvest wolverines largely for their warm pelts, which make excellent linings for parka hoods.