Wildsight will be hosting ‘The Wolverine: Icon of the Wild’ with biologist Andrea Kortello at Creston’s Rotacrest Hall on Friday, March 1.

An icon of the wild and one of the toughest critters you could ever encounter in the mountains, wolverines are in trouble. Wolverines need vast areas to roam and they depend on deep snowpacks for denning. Climate change, habitat loss and fragmentation and harvest rates are all having an impact on the wolverine. Currently, wolverines – Gulo gulo – are listed federally and in B.C. as a conservation concern under the Species at Risk Act.

Andrea Kortello has been working on the Kootenay Wolverine Project since 2012, working to identify the current population dynamics of wolverines in the Columbia Mountains. Our current understanding of wolverine population dynamics is very weak and her team’s research plays a key role in driving effective conservation measures to protect the wolverine. Their main methodology uses DNA captured from hair collected at baited trees to detect presence and genetic diversity. Genetic testing gives a picture of the wolverine population as a whole, and allows scientists to understand the larger wolverine population and how connected or fragmented it is from other populations.

The wolverine presentation will be preceded by Wildsight’s Annual General Meeting.

Robyn Duncan, Wildsight’s Executive Director says, “Join us to look back at the past year, to celebrate what we accomplished together and to renew our commitment to making positive change in our communities in the year to come.”

The Annual General Meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will be a short 30 minutes, followed by The Wolverine: Icon of the Wild at 7:30 p.m.

Lead image: A wolverine – Gulo gulo. Photo submitted by Wildsight

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