To win or die: about the most aggressive animal in Russia

Today I will introduce you to the most reckless and aggressive animal of our country.

We are talking about Wolverine - a distant relative of the honey badger. Both animals belong to the family of marten, and all marten are known to be very aggressive. By the way, in Latin this beast is called Gulo gulo, which means "glutton", and this is fully true.

Outwardly, Wolverine resembles a mixture of a dog, a badger and a bear. She recalls the latter primarily due to a similar clubfoot, which is due to the fact that the wolverine, like the bear, walks, stepping on the ground with the whole foot. By the way, the foot of the Wolverine is very wide, which allows it to easily move around in the snow. Thanks to powerful paws and sharp claws, the wolverine perfectly climbs trees. The weight of the wolverines reaches 30-35 kilograms, although the average weight is usually around 20 kg. Females are slightly smaller than males.

Wolverines also have very powerful and sharp teeth.

Wolverines are distributed throughout northern Eurasia and North America and, accordingly, are divided into two subspecies: Gulo gulo gulo and Gulo gulo luscus. According to Wikipedia, Wolverine can be found:

"in the taiga, in the forest-tundra and partly in the tundra of Eurasia and North America. In Europe, it has survived in the north of the Scandinavian Peninsula, in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, partly in Poland and Belarus.

In Russia, the southern border of its range passes through the Tver, Kirov, Leningrad and Vologda regions and the Perm Territory; Wolverine is widespread in Siberia and the Far East. It is also common on the Kola Peninsula in the Murmansk region, Karelia, Pskov and Novgorod regions, the Republic of Komi, in Kamchatka. "

Wolverine is a solitary animal. Joins in pairs only during the mating season. All the rest of the time he prefers to live away from other people like himself, while furiously guarding his territory, which, by the way, can reach several hundred square kilometers. Unlike other martyrs, wolverine wanders a lot in search of food.

Wolverine eats almost everything that can be eaten, including carrion. However, the main diet consists of birds and rodents, as well as young ungulates: deer, elk, musk deer and mountain sheep. Often attacks animals many times larger than themselves. Wolverine usually chases its prey for a long time, literally exhausting it. Wolverine is so fearless that it can take prey from a wolf, and does not stop, even if it is a pack of wolves. If the wolves are against, then a serious battle awaits them, in which they themselves most often become victims.

Wolverines are considered the orderlies of forests and taiga, largely because they kill sick and wounded animals, and, as I mentioned earlier, regularly eat up the remains of animals killed by other predators.

I would also like to say how nevertheless this animal is cruel and aggressive. It is known that even bears avoid the Wolverines. And in one zoo there was an accident that cost the lives of not just a bear, but a polar bear! The zoo employees foolishly launched a wolverine in a cage with a bear, which immediately attacked its new huge neighbor and strangled him ... And the polar bear, as we know, is the largest land predator on the planet!

On YouTube, and indeed on the Internet, there are many videos confirming the aggressiveness, courage and even cruelty of these amazing animals. And personally, I would say that Wolverine lives by the principle: to win or die!