In Search of Wolverines
For a month at the edge of winter and spring, a 5-member scientific expedition surveyed the remote mountain ranges surrounding the Darhad Valley of northern Mongolia for wolverine and other wildlife.
When the five of us finally clipped into our skis on a frozen river, where no less than 2 minutes later we encountered our first set of wolverine tracks, it finally felt like the beginning of the expedition. In truth, we had all been working hard, months and months earlier on fundraising and sponsorship efforts, training to ski all day with 50+ lbs of gear and food in our packs, and planning sessions over logistics and gear. The latter fortunately included oven-fresh brownies out of my kitchen in Bozeman, Montana, where four of the expedition team members were based, and a skype line out to our fifth member in New York state.
It was an all volunteer effort by our team of four women and one man, but having an opportunity to visit this back of the backcountry region in support of wildlife and conservation was extremely rare and motivating. Combined with permitting delays, it took us over a week of air and vehicle travel from the U.S. to reach our official ‘starting point’.
That frozen river on day 1 would carry us from the grassy lowland steppe into the snow covered and icy highlands of Ulaan Taiga Strictly Protected Areas, one of three northern Mongolian protected areas established in 2012 under the banner of the Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas’ Administration. Over the following weeks, we would traverse Tengis-Shishged National Park and Horidol Saridag Strictly Protected Area, in addition to a small sliver of unprotected mountain range wedged between the protected areas.
The primary reason for this Wolverine Foundation expedition was to repeat and extend a 2013 survey to assess the size and health of the wolverine population in Mongolia’s Darhad Region. Scat samples, which we collected by following wolverine tracks, are used for population genetics and we were back to learn more. In 29 days of skiing we found 45 sets of tracks.
As guests of Ulaan Taiga Protected Areas, we were also able to help conduct winter wildlife surveys in places where rangers couldn’t travel on horseback. The three Ulaan Taiga protected areas are the 1.5 times the size of Yellowstone National Park, serving as a refuge for species of all kinds, including mammals, fish, birds, and rare plants, yet it is only patrolled by 34 rangers. Using track identification for significant species such as moose, wolf, elk, boar, roe deer, sable, lynx, marten, and of course wolverine, we filled 12 pages of data sheets. It was a mutually supportive effort, as park staff and even the park director, met us at points between the four hitches with critical gear and food resupplies.
As the skiing goes, we repeated a pattern of following frozen rivers and streams, often on overflow ice, up or down valleys which we then connected by traversing over 12 high elevation passes. The snow conditions followed a pattern too, usually some combination of gloppy, crusty, and/or bottomless sugar. Mornings we would be skiing by 8 am and we managed to cover 340 miles (547 km), averaging about 13 miles (21 km) a day. Long river ice stretches where we could cover 15+ miles/day helped balance out those where we slogged for 10 miles or less in deep snow.
Our coldest morning dipped to around -15˚F and early on we had good snowpack. Unfortunately the winter of 2018-2019 didn’t bring much snow to the Darhad Region and spring came quickly. Throughout the expedition one of our biggest challenges was finding enough snow to ski and track wildlife (snow is essential for snow tracking). At lower elevations, we were restricted to river corridors as the frozen river was the only skiable surface and place where tracks were evident. Beyond the river we “skied” over rocks, willows, tussocks, mosses, and grasses, or opted to put our skis on packs and walk. On the flip side the warmer conditions made daily field life more comfortable and likely saved us from frost-bite on a long high-elevation pass we traversed in a blizzard. Visibility dropped to less than 10 feet at times and winds gusted at 40+ mph, knocking us over.
We were very appreciative that Katadyn sponsored our expedition with Alpine Aire meals, snacks, and desserts, providing the highly satisfying fuel we needed to keep moving each day. Our daily efforts required that servings for two be servings for one, and to maximize time for tracking our only hot meal was dinner. We boiled water each night over a fire or stove and usually had a soup or snack appetizer followed by a main course (Forever Young Mac and Cheese - it really never did get old - was a crowd favorite), and then chased that with a Chocolate Mudslide for dessert. The simplicity of just boiling water and no clean up also meant we got to bed quickly after a long day. Every morning in addition to eating a bag of granola (prepared with water that we kept in our sleeping bags overnight), we would mix up one of Alpine Aire’s noodle meals, reseal it in an insulated pouch, and later enjoy a cold pasta salad for lunch. Throughout we used Katadyn steripens to quickly treat river water on the go which allowed us to keep moving and stay warm. We easily kept the Steripen’s rechargeable battery charged with our cache battery and solar panel system.
Five people on skis on ice and noisy crusty snow, and a relatively recent history of hunting before the Park was established, meant we had few ‘live’ wildlife sightings. We saw snowshoe hares, a few squirrels, and a deer, and one time we could literally smell a moose. However, the many tracks in the ice and snow told stories of unseen animals and our imaginations would bring them to life, from a pack of wolves basking on a sunny day on a frozen river and chewing on a horn to an eagle swooping in for a fight with a snowshoe hare. On one particular day we tracked a wolverine for miles down a valley that became increasingly tight until we were trapped by steep rock walls, with the creek getting ever steeper forcing us to sidestep down short ice falls. Still the wolverine tracks continued and then to our chagrin, it had launched down a 20 foot frozen waterfall and we had no choice but to abandon the effort and backtrack upstream until we could escape out of the canyon to an upper bench.
Under less challenging conditions, wolverine tracking can be meditative. Literally following in their tracks I found myself moving across the landscape as a wolverine: along the stream edge or over deadfall and then up a hillside only to drop down over a steep bank and then climb onto the top of a rock just to get a better vantage. And as the older tracks faded I couldn’t help but begin to think like a wolverine to figure out where they would start up again.
Towards the end of our first 10-day hitch we picked up on a snow-packed trail and realized we were following a migration of reindeer herders, maybe a day or two behind, over and down the next pass. We later learned the herd had passed through the day before and numbered in the hundreds. With hopes of seeing reindeer up close we pushed on and arrived at a patrol cabin with our resupplies after a 17 mile day and we were delighted to find a few reindeer tied up around camp as a reward. It turns out they like to lick salt, on your hands, or on your face! That night the reindeer herders returned to collect the stragglers and we wouldn’t see reindeer again until a week later as we crossed a large lake, and 8 or 9 were suddenly trotting behind us and just as suddenly gone once they realized we weren’t their herders.
This expedition wouldn’t have been possible without the support and guidance of the Mongolian Parks, especially the administrative staff in the town of Ulaan Uul and the Darhad rangers who coordinated our resupplies. We are grateful to them all, and honored to have had the opportunity to travel through these protected areas and assist them with better understanding the areas they manage. In planning this expedition we knew that skiing was the only way to carry out this research, but we didn’t anticipate how it would help us to connect with the people we met along the way. Although this part of Mongolia has a long history of skiing, it is a dying tradition. Bonding with the Mongolian rangers over skiing was an unexpected highlight of the trip. We sparked the rangers interest in utilizing skis to conduct patrols in remote areas in winter where horse travel is impossible.
By working with the Mongolia National Parks to survey wildlife activity in this remote area, we strengthened collaborative ties between the Parks and The Wolverine Foundation. A shared love of the Darhad and concern for the future of the area’s wildlife cuts across language barriers and cultural differences. We were all honored to be part of, and help to build, this growing relationship.
Written by The Wolverine Foundation. Follow the foundation on facebook @thewolverinefoundation.
