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Mating Habits of Wolverines

The wolverine's natural habitat is in northern parts of North America, Asia and Europe. Here, the wolverine survives by hunting prey and scavenging the remains of animals that have been killed by other predators. Wolverines have a low reproductive rate. When food becomes less abundant, wolverines may produce smaller litters. If food becomes very scarce, wolverines may not produce any young at all as this would expend too much energy that they may not be able to replace.

Breeding Season
- Wolverines usually mate in June or July. However, the breeding season can occur any time between May and August. For most of the year, wolverines have a solitary existence. During the breeding season, wolverines will spend a few days with members of the opposite sex for the purpose of mating. After mating, the pair will go their separate ways again. Female wolverines will not begin to reproduce until they are at least 15 months old. Male wolverines are not able to reproduce until they are around 2 years old.
Mates
- Male wolverines may become aggressive towards each other during the breeding season. At this time, males compete for territory and females. Although males mark their territory by secreting a substance from scent glands and defend their territory fiercely, they will share the area with a number of females. Wolverines do not form monogamous breeding pairs. The male may mate with all females that share his territory in a single breeding season. Females may also mate with more than one male during the breeding season, resulting in her kits having different fathers although they belong to the same litter.
Dens
- After wolverines have mated, the female either burrows into snow to build a den or creates a den out of empty pockets in the snow that have been formed naturally. These dens consist of a number of tunnels under the snow which have been excavated by the wolverine of created naturally by boulders. The female wolverine uses her den to give birth and raise her kits. Dens help to protect the kits from predators.
Gestation and Birth
- Although female wolverine eggs are fertilized when they mate during the breeding season, the embryo's development is temporarily halted. The embryos do not become implanted in the uterus for between four and six further months, with implantation occurring between November and March. This process is known as delayed implantation. Delayed implantation ensures that kits are born when food is abundant in the spring. Female wolverines usually give birth to between two and four kits in a single litter.

Animals & Science