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The Wyoming Biodiversity Minute

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Episode 16: Mammal Dispersal - Part 2

An image of a male wolverine, climbing over a log.

Image: Per Harald Olsen/NTNU

Last week we talked about mammal dispersal. We told the story of a male mountain lion that had travelled 1500 away from home and ended up in Connecticut. But mountain lions are not the only North American mammal that can travel great distances. In 2009 a male wolverine called M56 travelled 500 miles from northern Wyoming to Colorado becoming the first verified wolverine in Colorado in 90 years. Various hikers spotted and photographed M56 while he was in Colorado but he eventually slipped away. Some seven years later he made his final appearance in South Dakota, where he was shot and killed after an encounter with cattle on a ranch. Stories of mammal dispersal give us a chance to appreciate just how far an animal may wonder in search of new territory and mates. With your WyoBioMinute I am Brian Barber

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Last week we talked about mammal dispersal. We told the story of a male mountain lion that had travelled 1500 away from home and ended up in Connecticut. But mountain lions are not the only North American mammal that can travel great distances. In 2009 a male wolverine called M56 travelled 500 miles from northern Wyoming to Colorado

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