Yellowstone’s rarest animal caught on trail camera for first time

The rarest animal inhabiting Yellowstone National Park was captured for the first time in trail camera footage that the iconic park released Wednesday on Facebook.

The rare sighting of a wolverine in the Mammoth Hot Springs area last month had park biologists excited because of the rare sighting.

“Wolverines (Gulo gulo), mid-sized carnivores in the weasel family that typically occupy high-elevation alpine and forest habitats, exist in low densities in the park and are rarely detected,” the park stated in its post.

“Park biologists have used remote cameras to monitor the cougar population since 2014, but this technology has since become increasingly valuable for detecting and monitoring a variety of species and aspects of Yellowstone’s ecology.

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“This is the first video footage of a wolverine since remote cameras have been deployed in the park.”

The park states that there have been only seven documented wolverines in Yellowstone and adjoining national forests from 2006 to 2009: two females and five males.

Wolverines grow to 31 pounds; are active year-round and intermittently throughout the day; den in deep snow, under log jams and uprooted trees; and are mostly solitary except when breeding.

Photo courtesy of Yellowstone National Park.