A species that was hunted to local extinction made a comeback on its historical range, scientists who witnessed the population recovery via satellite imagery said.
The wolverine, listed as endangered due to over-hunting in the 20th century, has returned to the forests of southern Finland, according to a paper published last month in Ecology and Evolution.
Wolverine populations are distributed throughout boreal regions in the northern hemisphere, including arctic and subarctic regions and western North America, the Wolverine Foundation noted.
Historically, in Europe, they could be found as far south as Norway, southern Sweden and northeast Poland. Today, wolverines are only found in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
In Finland, the wolverine was classified as endangered in the 1980s. While they were known to have inhabited southern parts of the country as recently as the 19th century, hunting eradicated the species from the region, according to researchers at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland.
throws_lemy in biodiversity
Elusive predator hunted to local extinction returns to its historical range
https://abcnews.go.com/International/elusive-predator-hunted-local-extinction-returns-historical-range/story?id=122347488A species that was hunted to local extinction made a comeback on its historical range, scientists who witnessed the population recovery via satellite imagery said.
The wolverine, listed as endangered due to over-hunting in the 20th century, has returned to the forests of southern Finland, according to a paper published last month in Ecology and Evolution.
Wolverine populations are distributed throughout boreal regions in the northern hemisphere, including arctic and subarctic regions and western North America, the Wolverine Foundation noted.
Historically, in Europe, they could be found as far south as Norway, southern Sweden and northeast Poland. Today, wolverines are only found in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.
In Finland, the wolverine was classified as endangered in the 1980s. While they were known to have inhabited southern parts of the country as recently as the 19th century, hunting eradicated the species from the region, according to researchers at Aalto University in Espoo, Finland.