Editing Wolverine (section)

==Behavior and ecology==
[[File:Wolverine (Gulo gulo), Korkeasaari (video).webm|thumb|Video of a wolverine in the [[Korkeasaari Zoo]] of [[Helsinki]]]]

=== Diet and hunting ===
[[File:Ahma (Gulo gulo) 7 kallerna.jpg|thumb|Wolverine with prey in [[Finland]]]]

Wolverines are primarily [[scavenger]]s.<ref name="VanDijk">{{cite journal |author=Van Dijk, J., Gustavsen, L., Mysterud, A., May, R., Flagstad, Ø., Brøseth, H., ... and Landa, A. |year=2008 |title=Diet shift of a facultative scavenger, the wolverine, following recolonization of wolves |journal=Journal of Animal Ecology |volume=77 |issue=6 |pages=1183–1190 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2656.2008.01445.x |pmid=18657209 |bibcode=2008JAnEc..77.1183V |doi-access=free}}</ref> Most of their food is [[carrion]], especially in winter and early spring. They may find carrion themselves, feed on it after the predator (often, a [[wolf]] pack) has finished, or simply take it from another predator. Wolverines are known to follow wolf and [[lynx]] trails to scavenge the remains of their kills. Whether eating live prey or carrion, the wolverine's feeding style appears voracious, leading to the nickname of "glutton" (also the basis of the scientific name). However, this feeding style is believed to be an adaptation to food scarcity, especially in winter.<ref>[http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0160 Wolverine Gulo gulo] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120604183300/http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=MA0160 |date=4 June 2012}}, eNature.com</ref>

The wolverine is also a powerful and versatile predator. Its prey mainly consists of small to medium-sized mammals, but wolverines have been recorded killing prey many times larger than itself, such as adult deer. Prey species include [[porcupine]]s, [[squirrel]]s, [[chipmunk]]s, [[beaver]]s, [[marmot]]s, [[mole (animal)|moles]], [[gopher]]s, [[rabbit]]s, [[vole]]s, mice, rats, [[shrew]]s, [[lemming]]s, [[Reindeer|caribou]], [[roe deer]], [[white-tailed deer]], [[mule deer]], sheep, goats, cattle, [[bison]], [[moose]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Scrafford |first1=Matthew A. |last2=Boyce |first2=Mark S. |year=2018 |title=Temporal patterns of wolverine (Gulo gulo luscus) foraging in the boreal forest |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=99 |issue=3 |pages=693–701 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/gyy030 |doi-access=free}}</ref> and [[elk]].<ref>{{Cite web
| author1= Bret Weinstein
| author2= Liz Ballenger 
| author3=Matthew Sygo
| work = Animal Diversity Web
| publisher= University of Michigan Museum of Zoology 
|title=Gulo gulo| year = 1999
|url=http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/52386062/gulo_gulo_001.html|access-date=2023-02-07|archive-date=15 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015212645/http://www.arlis.org/docs/vol1/52386062/gulo_gulo_001.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Smaller predators are occasionally preyed on, including [[marten]]s, [[mink]], foxes, [[Eurasian lynx]],<ref name="A.A. Sludskii 1992. p. 625">Heptner, V.G. and Sludskii, A.A. (1992). Humans are apparently exempt. ''Mammals of the Soviet Union. Volume II Part 2 Carnivora: Hyenas and Cats''. New Delhi: Amerind Publishing, p. 625</ref> [[weasel]]s,<ref name="A.A. Sludskii 1992. p. 625" /> [[coyote]], and [[wolf]] pups. Wolverines have also been known to kill [[Canada lynx]] in the [[Yukon]] of Canada.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rockwood |first=Larry L |title=Introduction to Population Ecology |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xHFuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA273 |url-status=live |publisher=Wiley |date=2015 |pages=273– |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505192841/https://books.google.com/books?id=xHFuCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA273 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |isbn=978-1-118-94755-5}}</ref> Wolverines often pursue live prey that are relatively easy to obtain, including animals caught in traps, newborn mammals, and deer (including adult moose and elk) when they are weakened by winter or immobilized by heavy snow. Their diets are sometimes supplemented by birds' eggs, birds (especially [[geese]]), [[root]]s, [[seed]]s, insect larvae, and [[berries]]. Adult wolverines appear to be one of the few conspecific mammal carnivores to actively pose a threat to [[golden eagles]]. Wolverines were observed to prey on nestling golden eagles in [[Denali National Park]].<ref>Petersen, M. R., D. N. Weir, and M. H. Dick. 1991. ''Birds of the Kilbuck and Ahklun Mountain Region, Alaska''. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish & Wildlife Service, North American Fauna 76, Washington, D.C.</ref> During incubation in Northern Sweden, an incubating adult golden eagle was killed in its nest by a wolverine.<ref>Bjärvall, A. and R. Franzén. 1986. ''Wolverine killed Golden Eagle''. Fauna Och Flora 81:205-206.</ref>

Wolverines inhabiting the [[Old World]] (specifically, [[Fennoscandia]]) hunt more actively than their North American relatives.<ref name="wwf">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1018447/Wolverine%20Symposium.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070620034232/http://www.wwf.se/source.php/1018447/Wolverine%20Symposium.pdf|url-status=dead|title=World Wildlife Fund–Sweden: 1st International Symposium on Wolverine Research and Management|archive-date=20 June 2007|access-date=4 March 2022}}</ref> This may be because competing predator populations in Eurasia are less dense, making it more practical for the wolverine to hunt for itself than to wait for another animal to make a kill and then try to snatch it. They often feed on carrion left by wolves, so changes in wolf populations may affect the population of wolverines.<ref name="gr"/> They are also known on occasion to eat plant material.<ref name="rickert">{{cite news |last=Rickert |first=Eve |title=The perils of secrecy |url=http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17093 |url-status=live |newspaper=High Country News |date=28 June 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040255/http://www.hcn.org/servlets/hcn.Article?article_id=17093 |archive-date=28 September 2007}}</ref>

Wolverines often [[Hoarding (animal behavior)|cache]] their food during times of plenty. This is of particular importance to [[Lactation|lactating]] females in the winter and early spring, a time when food is scarce.<ref name="LIVE SCI">{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/21590-wolverines-refrigerators-climate.html|title=Climate change could melt wolverines' snowy refrigerators|date=13 July 2012|access-date=22 October 2015|publisher=Live Science|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729015037/http://www.livescience.com/21590-wolverines-refrigerators-climate.html|archive-date=29 July 2015}}</ref>

===Reproduction===
Wolverines are [[induced ovulation (animals)|induced ovulators]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Mead |first1=Rodney A. |last2=Bowles |first2=Mark |last3=Starypan |first3=Greg |last4=Jones |first4=Mike |date=1993-01-01 |title=Evidence for pseudopregnancy and induced ovulation in captive wolverines (Gulo gulo) |journal=Zoo Biology|language=en|volume=12|issue=4|pages=353–358|doi=10.1002/zoo.1430120405|issn=1098-2361}}</ref> Successful males will form lifetime relationships with two or three females, which they will visit occasionally, while other males are left without a mate.<ref name="Raloff"/> Mating season is in the summer, but the actual implantation of the embryo (blastocyst) in the [[uterus]] is [[embryonic diapause|stayed]] until early winter, delaying the development of the [[fetus]]. Females will often not produce young if food is scarce. The gestation period is 30–50 days, and litters of typically two or three young ("kits") are born in the spring. Kits develop rapidly, reaching adult size within the first year. The typical longevity of a wolverine in captivity is around 15 to 17 years, but in the wild the average lifespan is more likely between 8 and 10 years.<ref>{{Cite book|editor1-last=Feldhamer
|editor1-first=George A.
| first1= Jeffrey P. | last1= Copeland
| first2= Jackson S. | last2= Whitman
| chapter= Wolverine (Gulo gulo)
| pages= 672–681

|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xQalfqP7BcC&q=wolverine|title=Wild Mammals of North America: Biology, Management, and Conservation|editor2-last=Thompson
|editor2-first=Bruce C.
|editor3-last=Chapman|editor3-first=Joseph A.|date=2003|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|isbn=978-0-8018-7416-1}}</ref>{{rp|676}} Fathers make visits to their offspring until they are weaned at 10 weeks of age; also, once the young are about six months old, some reconnect with their fathers and travel together for a time.<ref name="Raloff"/>

===Interspecies interactions===
[[Wolves]], [[American black bear]]s, [[brown bear]]s and [[cougar]]s are capable of killing adult wolverines, while smaller predators (like [[golden eagle]]s) can kill young and inexperienced individuals.<ref>Hornocker, M.G., Messick, J.P. & Melquist, W.E. 1981. "The wolverine in northwestern Montana". ''Canadian Journal of Zoology'', 59: 1286–1301.</ref> Wolves are thought to be the wolverine's most important natural predator, with the arrival of wolves to a wolverine's territory presumably leading the latter to abandon the area.<ref name=Smith>{{cite web |url=http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-499-01-0001.pdf |title=Gulo gulo – The American Society of Mammalogists |publisher=smith.edu |access-date=23 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617132035/http://www.science.smith.edu/msi/pdf/i0076-3519-499-01-0001.pdf |archive-date=17 June 2012}}</ref> Armed with powerful jaws, sharp claws, and a thick hide,<ref name="biomes">{{cite web |url=http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/wolverine.htm |title=World Biomes: Wolverine |publisher=Blueplanetbiomes.org |access-date=4 October 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100923075158/http://blueplanetbiomes.org/wolverine.htm |archive-date=23 September 2010}}</ref> wolverines, like most [[mustelid]]s, are remarkably strong for their size. They may defend against larger or more numerous [[predator]]s such as wolves or bears.<ref name=Wolverine>{{cite web|title=Wolverine – Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks|url=http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/portraits/wolverine.htm|publisher=Montana Outdoors|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928223026/http://fwp.mt.gov/mtoutdoors/HTML/articles/portraits/wolverine.htm|archive-date=28 September 2013}}</ref> By far, their most serious predator is the [[grey wolf]], with an extensive record of wolverine fatalities attributed to wolves in both North America and Eurasia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Burkholder | first1 = B. L. | year = 1962 | title = Observations concerning wolverine | journal = Journal of Mammalogy | volume = 43 | issue = 2| pages = 263–264 | doi=10.2307/1377101| jstor = 1377101 }}</ref><ref>Boles, B. K. (1977). ''Predation by wolves on wolverines''. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 91(1), 68–69.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Palomares | first1 = F. | author-link2 = Tim Caro | last2 = Caro | first2 = T. M. | year = 1999 | title = Interspecific killing among mammalian carnivores | url = https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/51387/1/Palomares%20%26%20Caro_1999_Am%20Nat.pdf| journal = The American Naturalist | volume = 153 | issue = 5| pages = 492–508 | doi=10.1086/303189| hdl = 10261/51387 | pmid=29578790| bibcode = 1999ANat..153..492P | s2cid = 4343007 | hdl-access = free }}</ref><ref>White, K. S., Golden, H. N., Hundertmark, K. J., & Lee, G. R. (2002). ''Predation by Wolves, Canis lupus, on Wolverines, Gulo gulo, and an American Marten, Martes americana, in Alaska''. Canadian Field-Naturalist, 116(1), 132–134.</ref> In North America, another predator (less frequent) is the [[cougar]].<ref>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dqg2AQAAMAAJ&q=mountain+lion+kill+wolverine&pg=SL14-PA36 |title = White River National Forest (N.F.), Land and Resource Management Plan: Environmental Impact Statement|page=36|year = 2002}}</ref> At least one account reported a wolverine's apparent attempt to steal a kill from a [[American Black Bear|black bear]], although the bear won what was ultimately a fatal contest for the wolverine.<ref name="WNS">{{cite press release | title = When Predators Attack (Each Other): Researchers Document First-known Killing of a Wolverine by a Black Bear in Yellowstone | publisher = Science Daily | date = 6 May 2003 | url = https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030506073236.htm | access-date = 16 January 2007 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070220034045/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/05/030506073236.htm | archive-date = 20 February 2007}}</ref> There are a few accounts of [[brown bear]]s killing and consuming wolverines as well and, although also reported at times to be chased off prey, in some areas such as [[Denali National Park]], wolverines seemed to try to actively avoid encounters with grizzly bears as they have been reported in areas where wolves start hunting them.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2193/0022-541X(2004)068[0493:SOSRAC]2.0.CO;2|title=Synthesis of Survival Rates and Causes of Mortality in North American Wolverines|journal=Journal of Wildlife Management|volume=68|issue=3|pages=493–502|jstor=3803381|year=2004|last1=Krebs|first1=John|last2=Lofroth|first2=Eric|last3=Copeland|first3=Jeffrey|last4=Banci|first4=Vivian|last5=Cooley|first5=Dorothy|last6=Golden|first6=Howard|last7=Magoun|first7=Audrey|last8=Mulders|first8=Robert|last9=Shults|first9=Brad|s2cid=85682054 }}</ref><ref name= Murie>Murie, A. (2012). ''The grizzlies of Mount McKinley''. University of Washington Press.</ref>

===Urine scent marking===

Wolverines have been observed to use urine as a scent-marking behavior. Headspace analysis of the volatiles emanating from urine samples identified 19 potential [[semiochemical]]s. The major classes of identified chemicals are the ketones: 2-heptanone, 4-heptanone and 4-nonanone and the monoterpenes: alpha-pinene, beta-pinene, limonene, linalool and geraniol. In other mammals, the excretion of these terpenes is unusual. The conifer needles that are found in wolverine scat are likely the source of these monoterpenes.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Wood | first1 = William F. | last2 = Copeland | first2 = Jeffrey P. | last3 = Yates | first3 = Richard E. | last4 = Horsey | first4 = Iman K. | last5 = McGreevy | first5 = Lynne R. | year = 2009 | title = Potential semiochemicals in urine from free ranging wolverines (Gulo gulo Pallas, 1780) | journal = Biochemical Systematics and Ecology | volume = 37 | issue = 5 | pages = 574–578 | doi=10.1016/j.bse.2009.09.007| bibcode = 2009BioSE..37..574W }}</ref>