Last Known Wild Wolverine Found Dead
Quote:
Posted: 11:31 a.m. March 15, 2010
Only known wolverine in the Michigan wild dies
By Dawson Bell
Free Press Lansing Bureau
The only known wolverine in the wilds of Michigan has been found dead in the Thumb area, near where it was first spotted in 2004.
The female wolverine, found Saturday by a pair of hikers near a beaver dam in the Minden City State Game Area, appears to have died from natural causes, said Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokeswoman Mary Detloff.
A necropsy will be performed at a DNRE lab at Michigan State University, Detloff said. The department plans to eventually mount the animal for display at the Bay City State Game Area, she said.
The wolverine was first spotted in Huron County in February 2004 by a group of coyote hunters, and confirmed by DNR officers. It had been seen only sporadically since. Conservation officials and local advocates kept release of information about the animal to a minimum to protect it, Detloff said.
Although Michigan is known as the Wolverine State, and the University of Michigan sports teams have spread the association far and wide, the Thumb wolverine is the only confirmed sighting of a wolverine here in the wild.
Contact DAWSON BELL: 517-372-8660 or
dbell@freepress.com.
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