Wolverine
| Wolverine | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
| クズリ | |||
| Character Data | |||
| AKA | Skunk bear
| ||
| Romaji | Kuzuri
| ||
| Debut | Kemono Friends Pavilion | ||
| Animal Data | |||
| Scientific Name | Gulo gulo
| ||
| Distribution | The boreal zone of the northern hemisphere
| ||
| Diet | Omnivore
| ||
| Avg. Lifespan | 7-12 years
| ||
| Read More | Wolverine
| ||
| Conservation | 
| ||
| Wolverine | Pavilion | KF3 | Gallery |
“Fuh, my belly is full. Japari Buns have so many different flavors, I can't get bored with them. Ah, some of the crumbs are caught under your nails. Because nails are important, you must always keep them clean. (*glare*) Maybe I should do exercise to help my digestion; I'll check out my territory while I'm at it. Hmm, having a fight with Honey Badger would be nice too. She's always full of fighting spirit, you know? Now, where is she? (*sniff, sniff*)”
—Wolverine's introduction
The Wolverine is a type of mustelid Friend that premiered in Kemono Friends' collaboration with Nakau, and first featured in Kemono Friends Pavilion.
Appearance
Wolverine has small, rounded silvery white ears with black at the front. Her hair emulates the face of a Wolverine, and is the same silvery white color at the front, charcoal black at the scalp to the end of her hair, and taupe brown at the sides. Her hair is long and bushy, ending at her waist. Her eyes are amber brown, and below her right eye is an X-shaped scar extending to the bridge of her nose. She wears a black collared dress shirt, and a taupe brown jacket with a white flame pattern around the collar. Her jacket acts as a 'cape', it loosely draped over her shoulders with the sleeves and back free, and the top button fastened to keep the jacket on. She wears long black fingerless gloves, a white pleated skirt, and has a bushy, round silver and black tail. She wears thigh length boots with brown fur at the top, two black pinstripes extending down to the bottom, and white toe tips.
Series Appearances
| Media | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Kemono Friends Pavilion | ↪ Minor character, observable |
| 2019 | Kemono Friends 3 | ↪ Minor character, obtainable |
In Real Life
The wolverine, also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, skunk bear, or quickhatch, is a stocky and muscular carnivore primarily found in isolated Arctic, boreal, and alpine regions of northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia, and Fennoscandia; they are also native to European Russia, the Baltic countries, the Russian Far East, northeast China, and Mongolia. Adults can reach lengths of 65 to 107 cm, with their tails accounting for 17 to 26 cm thereof, and can weigh anywhere from 5.5 to 25 kg , though exceptionally large males can weigh up to 32 kg. The typical lifespan of a wolverine in the wild averages 9 years; in captivity, this number can reach 15 to 17 years.
Wolverines have thick, dark, oily fur most often seen colored black, brown, or a combination of the two. A light-silvery facial mask is distinct in some individuals, and a pale buff stripe runs laterally from the shoulders along the side and crossing the rump just above a 25 to 35 cm bushy tail. Some individuals display prominent white hair patches on their throats or chests. This fur is highly hydrophobic, making it resistant to rain, snow and frost—a key adaptation for its lifestyle and preferred habitat.
Wolverines are solitary creatures, and need great swaths of territory to roam; individual wolverines may travel upwards of 25 km in a day in search of food. Males mark their territory with their scent and only share their turf with females, unless food is scarce. Intruders are not tolerated; the wolverine is well-known for being very aggressive, and will defend its territory fiercely. They have powerful jaws and sharp claws with which they will attack most anything deemed a threat, including humans. Males in particular employ these tools in conflicts over mating rights and territory.
Though capable hunters, wolverines are considered to be primarily scavengers. A majority of the wolverine's sustenance is derived from carrion, depending on it almost exclusively in winter and early spring; it gladly takes advantage of animals that could not withstand the harsh of winter, some of which are preserved by cold and ice until they thaw in the spring. Wolverines may find carrion themselves, follow behind and scavenge in the wake of larger predators such as wolves or bears, or simply take it from another predator. A keen sense of smell allows the wolverine to sniff out carrion resting 6 m under the snow; they will also use this to detect prey hibernating underground or in snow drifts, digging into their burrows and killing them in their state of torpor. When hunting such live prey, wolverines prefer to tackle small to medium-sized mammals such as rabbits, but they have also been recorded feeding on or outright attacking animals that sometimes greatly outsize themselves, such as deer, porcupines, sheep, goats, cattle, bison, moose, and elk. Wolverines often pursue live prey that are relatively easy to obtain, including animals caught in traps when they are weakened by winter or immobilized by heavy snow. Their diets are sometimes supplemented by birds and their eggs, insect larvae, and berries.
Trivia
- Whether eating live prey or carrion, the wolverine's feeding style appears voracious; this is likely what gave it the nickname of "glutton" and the genus name Gulo. However, this feeding style is believed to be an adaptation to food scarcity, especially in winter.
- The wolverine's reputation as an insatiable glutton may also have come about due in part to mistranslations in its etymology. The less common name for the animal in Norwegian, fjellfross— meaning "mountain cat"— is thought to have worked its way into German as Vielfraß, which is pronounced similarly and literally means "devours much".
- The dense and hydrophobic fur of the wolverine has led to its traditional popularity among hunters and trappers as a lining in jackets and parkas in Arctic conditions. Despite this, the species is not considered to be at risk.
- Wolverines frequently cache food they procure during times of plenty. This is of particular importance to lactating females in the winter and early spring—times of severe scarcity.
References
- https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine
- https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/animals/mammals/w/wolverine
- https://defenders.org/wolverine/basic-facts