Wolverine
Gulo gulo (Linnaeus, 1758)
The wolverine (Gulo gulo) is a mammal of the order Carnivora, family Mustelidae and subfamily Guloninae. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore with a representative adult body mass of 17 kg.
Quick facts about the wolverine
Its main foods include moose, rangifer tarandus, carrion, marmota, mountain hare, north american porcupine and red deer. The wolverine is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 10.6 kg – 17 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 18 years – 19.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- american mink, apple, arctic fox, beaver, bison, carrion and 35 moresrc for Main food
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 51.4 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.5 – 3.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 2.07 years – 2.12 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 0.5src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the wolverine
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
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Where does the wolverine live?
Not recorded
What is the wolverine?
The wolverine ( WUUL-və-reen, US also WUUL-və-REEN; Gulo gulo), also called the carcajou or quickhatch (from East Cree, kwiihkwahaacheew), is the largest land-dwelling member of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscular carnivore and a solitary animal. The wolverine has a reputation for ferocity and strength out of proportion to its size, with the documented ability to kill prey many times larger than itself.
The wolverine is found primarily in remote reaches of the northern boreal forests and subarctic and alpine tundra of the Northern Hemisphere, with the greatest numbers in Northern Canada, the U.S. state of Alaska, the mainland Nordic countries of Europe, and throughout western Russia and Siberia. Its population has steadily declined since the 19th century owing to trapping, range reduction and habitat fragmentation. The wolverine has become essentially absent from the southern end of its range in both Europe and North America.
From the Wikipedia article “Wolverine” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wolverine&oldid=1380748405), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the wolverine endangered?
The wolverine is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the wolverine classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyMustelidae
- genusGulo
- SpeciesGulo gulo (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms Gulo gulo luscus, Gulo vulgaris, Mustela gulo
Other names and names in other languages (8)
- VielfraßGerman
- GlotónSpanish
- ahmaFinnish
- carcajouFrench
- GloutonFrench
- jervNorwegian Bokmål
- geatkiNorthern Sami
- järvSwedish
Relatives of the wolverine
Other species in the same genus Gulo.
CompareWolverine vs Gulo sudorus
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is a wolverine?
The wolverine is a mammal in the order Carnivora and the family Mustelidae. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial animal that is nocturnal.
How heavy is a wolverine?
A representative adult wolverine weighs 17 kg.
What does a wolverine eat?
The wolverine is a carnivore. Its main foods include moose, rangifer tarandus, carrion, marmota, mountain hare, beaver, red fox and roe deer.
How long does a wolverine live?
The wolverine has a lifespan of 18 years, and our sources report values up to 19.5 years.
Is the wolverine endangered?
No. The wolverine is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How many young does a wolverine have?
A wolverine has 2.84 young per litter, with reported values from 2.5 to 3.5. The sheet gives 0.5 litters per year.
How long is a wolverine's gestation period?
The wolverine's gestation period is 51 days.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Wolverine (Gulo gulo). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wolverine
“Wolverine (Gulo gulo).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wolverine.
@misc{wolverine_2026,
title = {Wolverine (Gulo gulo)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wolverine},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}