Oregon residents were stunned after seeing an incredibly rare wild animal running down a suburban street.
Willie Gonia, 33, saw a flash of hair running down the road in his rural Eugene neighborhood in April and ran out of his house with a camera in hand.
At first he thought the animal was a bear, but was surprised to discover that it was actually a wolverine.
“After a split second, I knew it wasn’t a bear and I realized it was a wolverine. I had never seen one in real life before, only on wildlife shows,” Gonia said. the dodo.
Oregon residents were left stunned after spotting an incredibly wolverine running down a suburban street.
Willie Gonia, 33, saw a flash of hair running down the road in his rural Eugene neighborhood in April and ran out of his house with a camera in hand.
Known for favoring winter climates, the National Wildlife Foundation It is estimated that there are fewer than 300 wolverines in the lower 48 states.
Most are found in Alaska, where there are believed to be about two wolverines per 1,000 square miles.
Nicknamed the “devil of the forest,” wolverines have long, dense fur that is usually dark brown to black with a creamy white stripe running from each shoulder along the flanks to the base of the tail.
Like bears, wolverines or ‘wolverines’, they walk on the soles of their feet and have curved, semi-retractable claws that allow them to climb trees.
Pictured: Eugene, Oregon, where a wolverine was seen running down the street.
Like bears, wolverines or ‘wolverines’, they walk on the soles of their feet and have curved, semi-retractable claws that allow them to climb trees.
They are also well suited for traveling through deep snow, as they are most commonly found in northern Canada, Russia, Siberia, and the Nordic countries of Europe.
Known for being the largest of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals, wolverines are primarily solitary creatures.
With a thick, stocky body with short legs, the wolverine often travels far in search of food, sometimes up to 40 miles in a day.
Because the climate favored by the ‘skunk bear’ is usually not very rich in nutrients, the 20- to 40-pound animal has become opportunistic and eats anything it can find or kill.
Male wolverines are larger than females, but only measure between 33 and 44 inches long, making the mammal an easy target for wolves, bears, and mountain lions.
Pictured: Willie Gonia, who captured the wolverine on camera.
Females build their burrows in deep snow, typically needing five feet or more to protect their young from the cold and predators. For this reason, burrows are usually at 7,000 feet or more in altitude.
“It is extremely rare to see a wolverine anywhere, let alone in an urban or suburban setting,” Cascadia Wildlands Conservation Director Bethany Cotton told The Dodo.
“Having one present in a city, even for a few hours, is extremely rare,” he added.
The animals are currently protected under the federal Endangered Species Act.
“Due to their need for deep, late-spring snow cover for burrowing and breeding, wolverines are particularly vulnerable to climate change and are therefore something of a warning about the severity of climate impacts,” he said. Cotton.