Wolverines are now found in two areas of Norway. One is a more or less continuous area from the far north of the country and south along the Swedish border to Sør-Trøndelag (the Femunden area). The second area is in the mountainous parts of southern and central Norway (in and around Dovrefjell, Rondane and Reinheimen, and more recently further south in Hedmark). Monitoring has confirmed that individual wolverines move between the two populations.

Based on data from the national monitoring programme for large carnivores, Norway’s winter population of wolverines in the period 2007–09 was estimated at 330 animals. In 2009, 53 litters were registered in Norway as a whole, so that the population target of 39 litters a year was achieved.

Intense hunting pressure in response to losses of livestock caused the severe decline in the wolverine population in the southern half of Norway in the early 20th century. The species became locally extinct. In winter 1964-65, for example, ten wolverines were killed in the Jotunheimen mountains because they were taking livestock. This probably wiped out the last breeding wolverine population in the southern half of the country.

Since the 1970s, the population has grown in the three northernmost counties and the mountains of central and southern Norway. Since the 1990s, the environmental authorities have regulated numbers through a system of culling by licensed hunters.

After the severe decline in important parts of its range, the wolverine was protected in Sweden in 1968 and the southern half of Norway in 1973. The establishment of a breeding population in the Rondane-Dovrefjell area in the period 1976–79 was probably a direct result of this, so that protection allowed wolverines to become re-established in an area where there had not been a resident population for more than 50 years. Breeding females have since colonised neighbouring areas of the mountains.

International agreements that apply to wolverines

The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats applies to the wolverine. The species is included in Appendix II, which lists strictly protected animal species. 

Culling

Since the 1990s, the environmental authorities have regulated wolverine numbers by culling. In areas where it has been decided that breeding wolverines are unwanted, culling is the most important means of regulating the population – either by setting a quota of wolverines that can be killed by licensed hunters in a particular area or by permitting killing of problem individuals.

Preventing and reducing conflict

In areas where livestock and domestic reindeer are given priority, measures to prevent or reduce wolverine-human conflicts are very important. These may include suitable fencing, bringing livestock in from rough grazing earlier than normal, guarding livestock or using night-time enclosures. 

Monitoring the population

Monitoring is important in efforts to maintain the population target for wolverine. Wolverines are monitored as part of the national monitoring programme for large carnivores, to ensure that we have detailed information about the distribution and numbers of the species.