Characteristics of dispersal in wolverines

We studied patterns of dispersal and sizes of home ranges of juvenile wolve rines (Gulo gulo). Mean dispersal age was 13 months for both male (n = 11) and female (n = 9) wolverines. Females displayed more variation in dispersa l age (7-26 months) than males (7-18 months). Of the animals used in the di spersal analyses, all males and 69% of females dispersed. All sedentary fem ales (n = 4) occupied their mother's territory when she died or shifted ter ritory, and no females dispersed from a territory vacated by their mother. Competition for resources seemed to determine the female dispersal pattern, while competition for mates seemed to explain the male dispersal pattern. Dispersal distances averaged 51 km for males and 60 km for females. However , this is likely to be an underestimation. Eight cases of exploratory movem ents were observed, and on average, these immediately preceded dispersal mo vements. The size of juvenile home ranges of males (85 km(2)) and females ( 81 km(2)) corresponded to the home-range area of denning females during the summer period. Wolverines have the capacity to recolonize gaps in the pres ent distribution of the species in Scandinavia. Other factors, therefore, m ost likely explain the large proportion of vacant wolverine habitats.