X-Men's Wolverine recovers rapidly after an injury and has retractable claws made of a special metal. The fictional Wolverine does not need much protection but there's another wolverine that is apparently not as indestructible.
This other wolverine is an animal that looks like a small bear. Also known as the mountain devil, the wolverine is the largest member of the weasel family that relies on deep snow for activities that are crucial for its survival such as denning, travelling and raising kits. The animal is known for its ferocity and boldness preying on animals many times bigger than itself.
Despite its strength and daringness, however, the population of the wolverine is dwindling and this could become worse with habitat loss, trapping and other human threats as well as climate change. Unfortunately, federal officials are denying the animal the protection that conservation groups claim it needs.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed last year to place the estimated 300 wolverines in the Lower 48 states under the Endangered Species Act saying that global warming leads to the reduction of mountain snows that the animals use for storing food and digging dens. The move would make it illegal to trap the animals. Restrictions on winter recreational activities in areas where the creatures inhabit will also be imposed.
On Tuesday, however, officials from the FWS withdrew the proposed measure to safeguard the reclusive creatures. They said that there was not enough evidence to support that climate change would harm the reclusive animal.
"After carefully considering the best available science, the Service has determined that the effects of climate change are not likely to place the wolverine in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future," the agency said in a statement. "The wolverine does not meet the statutory definition of either a "threatened species" or an "endangered species" and does not warrant protection under the ESA."
FWS director Dan Ashe said that evidence of the animal's growing population suggests that the wolverines are adapting but the conservation group Center for Biological Diversity said that the decision was not based on scientific information.
"These wolverines face a very real, clear and present danger from global warming. We know it, federal scientists know it," said Center for Biological Diversity's endangered species director Noah Greenwald. "The only people denying that grim reality are those making this decision to call off protections for one of the rarest, most threatened mammals in the country."
