Program for breeding wolverines in captivity

The wolverine is an endangered species in the Canadian East. There have been no observations in the wild for 20 years in Quebec and 50 years in Labrador. To remedy the situation, a team of specialists took part in the drafting of a recovery plan for this species. Under the terms of the plan, the “Wild” Zoo is responsible for setting up a program for breeding in captivity in order to better understand factors governing the birthing of viable cubs. Unlike Mustelidae, such as the mink, which are easy to raise in captivity, the wolverine is a “difficult” subject and there are very few institutions in the world that manage to reproduce them on an ongoing basis. Because the wolverine resides in vast territories, far from the human eye, we know very little about the behaviour of the species and we need to fill in that gap if we wish to protect the remaining populations. The results of our research, therefore, will be used towards better managing these magnificent animals.

Reproduction of the species at the CCBB

The Zoo owns one couple of wolverines, brought in from the Yukon in 1996.

Mating was observed over a number of summers, towards the end of the 1990s, but no cubs were born.

A mating was observed in July 2000.

At the beginning of December 2000, the female was removed from the male and placed in the birthing pen located behind the main wolverine habitat. In the wild, the male and female only come together during mating. It is possible that the failures of the preceding years are due to the fact that the male was constantly with the female.

On February 28, 2001, the female gave birth to three females, in the middle of the small birthing pen. A round area of melted snow showed where it took place. Three dens, one of which was quite isolated, were available for the female, but in spite of a temperature of –33 °C, the female preferred to drop her young in the open air.

Unfortunately, the young females died during their first summer. One died from acute enteritis and another had to be put down since she was suffering from a degenerative disease of the spinal cord. As for the third, she died following injuries inflicted by a male that attacked her instead of mating with her.

In December 2001, the female was again put by herself in the birthing pen. She had been with the male from mid-June to mid-August 2001, but we were unable to observe any mating activities. The couple were in a rear pen and therefore not easily visible.

In the wild, some females only drop young every two or three years, but the favourable environment of the “Wild” Zoo, more especially with regard to the abundance of food, has certainly promoted annual birthing since another litter of baby wolverines was born: on March 2002, two cubs were dropped, a male and a female. This was another major success for the species.

However, once more it would seem that the birthing of viable cubs is difficult, since the female did not survive. The young male, however, is in great health and has been transferred to another institution for mating purposes and will be siring a new generation of wolverines in captivity.

There were no births in the spring of 2003, but we are currently analyzing the video tapes in order to determine whether the female had a stillbirth, or whether she simply did not drop any young this year.

Grants and research objectives

In the autumn of 2000, a number of grant applications were made. The moneys requested were to be used, amongst other things, to build a new habitat. The amount necessary for this building, $130,000, exceeded the amount generally allowed for research projects and was not granted. However, the project did receive two grants, one from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the other from the program Faune Nature, for a joint total of $25,000.

The major expenditures were those for purchasing and installing video equipment in the artificial dens. The wolverine birthing den now receives complete coverage from video cameras and infrared lighting (that allows one to record even in total darkness without disturbing the animals). The non-stop observation of the female will allow us to answer a number of questions regarding the ecology of this little-known species. For example, how long does the wolverine sleep and how long is it active each day and what is the timetable? Are the cubs born swiftly one after the other? How often per day does the female suckle her young and how long does each session last? How often does the female move the cubs around and how does she do so? When do the cubs open their eyes for the first time? When do they begin to leave the den? When do they start eating meat? etc. etc. The amount of data available on these videotapes is considerable, making them very valuable.

We are still examining videotapes and you can be pretty sure that there are a number of surprises still in store that will tell us a little more about the mysterious wolverine. We will keep you posted.