Wolverines are famously hard to find, which is part of why no one had been able to say with confidence whether winter recreation affects them at a landscape scale. A new study led by researchers at the University of Calgary, working with Parks Canada, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and Montana State University, says it now can: across roughly 81,800 square kilometers of western Alberta and eastern British Columbia, wolverine density falls measurably in areas with heavier backcountry use and denser road networks.
The research, led by Dr. Mirjam Barrueto as part of her doctoral work at UCalgary, estimates fewer than 300 wolverines currently occupy the study area. Barrueto’s modeling suggests that number could be roughly 30 percent higher if recreation and road use were at lower levels. The team believes it is the first study to link recreational activity specifically to reduced population density in a wide-ranging carnivore, rather than simply showing that individual animals avoid busy patches of ground.
Road density turned out to be the other major predictor, and it hit female wolverines hardest. That matters disproportionately for the species’ recovery prospects, since wolverines reproduce slowly, typically producing only one to three young every few years. To estimate recreational pressure, the researchers drew on publicly available heat-map data from recreation apps, covering backcountry, heli- and cat-skiing, cross-country skiing, and hiking across both winter and summer seasons. Snowmobile traffic wasn’t tracked directly, though the researchers believe its effects are largely captured in the road data.
Barrueto was careful to frame the finding as more than just animals shifting a few hundred meters out of a ski run’s way — in the busier areas, she said, fewer individuals were living there at all. The team’s paper lays out five management recommendations, including preserving roadless, low-disturbance habitat and limiting recreational access during the window when wolverines are raising young. Co-author Aerin Jacob of the Nature Conservancy of Canada described the pattern as stark, and Barrueto framed the choice ahead for land managers bluntly: whether landscapes used this way can still support rare carnivores, or whether they end up supporting mainly deer and coyotes instead.
Journal: Biological Conservation
Article Title: Sharing the snow: outdoor recreation and roads reduce the density of a rare carnivore
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2026.112108
Publication Date: September 29, 2026
Source: EurekAlert