Study causes shift in wolverine management Wolverine researchers in Greater Yellowstone say protecting overlaps between the region’s three populations is crucial to ensuring the species’ long term survival. Greater Yellowstone wolverines consist of three so-called “metapopulations,” one in northern Montana, one in central Idaho and one in northwest Wyoming, according to Bryan Aber, a carnivore biologist with Idaho Fish and Game, U.S. Forest Service, and the Wildlife Conservation Society. Maintaining connections between these metapopulations is difficult because wolverines rely on high elevation terrain, exist in extremely low densities and maintain huge home ranges. Female wolverines average a 155-square-mile home range, while males average a 460-square-mile home range. “The overlap of those three populations is critical in ensuring genetic transfer,” Aber said. “Because they exist at such low densities, the area where these three metapopulations overlap is extremely important.”....