Mount Rainier National Park and Cascades Carnivore Project are pleased to confirm a second litter of wolverine offspring (called kits) has been born in the park.
This is only the third wolverine family documented in Washington’s South Cascades in a century and the second family documented in Mount Rainier National Park. Researchers retrieved photographs and video from cameras set in a remote area of the park where they believed a female wolverine likely denned in 2020. They discovered this wolverine with her two young kits while visiting the area during June 2021.
The study is a collaboration between Mount Rainier National Park, Cascades Carnivore Project, and the United States Forest Service to document the natural recolonization of wolverines into southern Washington and improve scientists’ understanding of how climate change threatens this rare and elusive carnivore.
“It’s great news to learn that we have our second documented wolverine litter in the park,” said Mount Rainier National Park Superintendent Greg Dudgeon. “It helps us confirm that the park’s wilderness is excellent habitat for wolverines, and that protection of these wild areas is important to the success of many species of wildlife.”
“Wolverines returning to and reproducing in their historical range is huge for wolverine conservation,” said Jocelyn Akins, founder of Cascades Carnivore Project. “However, there are very few wolverines in Washington. Globally, wolverines face new potential threats from climate change and increased recreation in wilderness areas.” Akins stated “In Washington, connectivity, particularly across I-90 is key to healthy wolverine populations.”
This female wolverine was first detected at Mount Rainier National Park in late 2019 and is only the second female wolverine documented in Washington’s South Cascades in modern times. Her DNA, from hair samples collected at several wolverine monitoring stations, confirmed she is part of the recovering wolverine population in Washington and that she did not disperse from a neighboring state.
Wolverines are native to Washington’s Cascade Range but are believed to have been extirpated by the 1920s, most likely due to unregulated trapping, shooting, and poisoning associated with predator control efforts. Individual wolverines moved south out of Canada to recolonize the North Cascades. Surveys by a collaborative group of researchers for more than 20 years have documented wolverines reoccupying their former habitat throughout the Cascades.
For more information on Mount Rainier National Park, please visit www.nps.gov/mora. To learn more about Cascades Carnivore Project and their opportunities for community scientists to participate in carnivore conservation throughout the Cascade Range in the field and from home, please visit www.cascadescarnivore.org.