14 DAY TRIAL // Just recently, the Journal of Mammology published a new study investigating the ways in which climate change and global warming impact the dietary habits of wolverines, a species of animals whose typical natural habitats are represented by snowy mountainous regions.
Apparently, wolverines prosper in these harsh conditions because they came up with a very simple, yet very efficient solution to make sure they still have something to eat once the weather goes bad and hunting is no longer possible.
Thus, they simply refrigerate some of the food they can get their paws on during times of abundance, by carefully tucking in away in crevices naturally occurring in their surrounding environment.
The bad news is that, as the leading authors of this research explain, warmer global temperatures might lead to the wolverines' no longer being able to store food as they did in the past.
The study shows that, as was to be expected, said increased temperatures will allow for various insects and bacteria to have their way with the wolverines' food sources, without anyone being able to do something about it.
Robert Inman from North America's Wildlife Conservation Society supposedly stated that “People don't normally think of insects and microbes as being in competition for food with wolverines. But in fact, bacteria will devour an unprotected source if that source is available.” News Wise explains that this will first and foremost have a negative effect on the nursing females belonging to this species, mainly because their energy demands increase considerably during this period.
Given the fact that wolverines are already listed as an endangered species, it is indeed disappointing to hear that global warming – thatwe know to be largely a direct consequence of human activities – is now also taking its toll of this animal's population.
One other environmentalist, Jodi Hilty, hopes that this species might still have a chance at survival and argues, “Shedding light on the specific mechanism of how climate will affect wolverines is important in order to know what to do to help them hold on.”