Wolverine M56 goes solo in Colorado as feds mull endangered status Read more: Wolverine M56 goes solo in Colorado as feds mull endangered status

While state biologists wait for federal authorities to declare a second species — wolverines — endangered by climate change, one lone male wolverine is making the case that Colorado mountains are a critical refuge. But the wolverine, M56, arrived on his own, and it likely would take an act of the state legislature to import any others. Now entering a fourth winter after trekking from Wyoming across the Red Desert into Rocky Mountain National Park, M56 has not only survived but thrived. Food apparently hasn't been a problem — marmots in summer, meaty elk bones during winter. State tracking data from a cigar-size transmitter in his belly show M56 roving as far as 100 miles — from forests west of Fort Collins across Interstate 70 to Mosquito Range mountains southeast of Leadville. Biologists say M56's exploits have demonstrated that wolverines can climb down from tundra and slink through human territory undetected when necessary, dealing with roads, and probably would not attack cattle...more