Title
Red Lake Wolverine Project Field Report Winter 2020-2021.
Author(s)
Scrafford, M., Seguin, J. and McCaw, L. 2021
Published
2021
Abstract
Wildlife Conservation Society Canada’s current wolverine study has been ongoing in Red Lake, Ontario since 2018. Our study involves identifying individual wolverines with bait stations and live traps to estimate wolverine abundance, collect biological samples, attach GPS collars. We then track
wolverines to document foraging behaviours, sources of mortality, and reproduction. Our major accomplishments thus far include:
• Building 29 live traps and 10 run poles across a 5,470 km2 study area.
• Monitoring 45 wolverines with GPS collars: 14 females and 31 males. We confirmed an
additional 14 wolverines on camera that we were not able to live trap, bringing the total to 59
known wolverines in our study area.
• Collecting over 54,000 GPS locations from collared wolverines which has enabled us to
understand wolverine home-range size, territory overlap, dispersal movements, habitat use, and
denning behaviour. Notably, M31 dispersed over 350 km from Red Lake during spring and
summer 2021 and now lives on the northwest edge of Lake Winnipeg.
• Documenting 10 wolverine mortalities: 8 human caused and 2 from predation.
• Visiting 88 “clusters” of GPS points to investigate wolverine activities. We found prey remains
at 52 clusters with the majority of remains from moose and beaver.
• Locating 5 reproductive dens and working with the Ontario government to create bestmanagement practices for protecting these areas.
• Collecting 292 wolverine biological samples: 147 scat samples, 75 hair samples, 26 blood
samples, and 44 tissue samples.
• Providing the Cascades Carnivore Project with 132 wildlife tracks to help understand the
accuracy of wolverine track identification by citizen scientists and professionals.
• Working with grade 12 students at Red Lake District High School to develop and write
scientific reports using field data we have collected.
• Participating in the filming of a documentary on wildlife in the Great Lakes region
Keywords
wolverine; wolverines; Red Lake; Ontario Northern Boreal; abundance; habitat use; den-site selection
Full Citation
Scrafford, M., Seguin, J. and McCaw, L. 2021. Red Lake Wolverine Project Field Report Winter 2020-2021. Toronto, Canada: Wildlife Conservation Society, Canada, 1-46.
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